Anything For You
by FandomlyCroft
Summary: Elsa Winters is the new girl at Arendelle High. With a tragic backstory and an abusing father, she just wants everyone to leave her alone. Anna Andersen is determined to break this cold new girl's shell. Can she handle what she finds when she succeeds? Modern Elsanna AU. Rated M for language, abuse, and self harm.
1. Chapter 1

Revised on 7/6/15

A/N

This is my second fanfic. Sorry for any mistakes.

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

The purr of the car's engine filled my ears as my mother gently stepped on the gas pedal. It was my eighth birthday and my mother insisted that she take me out for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Oaken's. Though we didn't get the chance to go very often, the owner, Mr. Oaken, was an old friend of my mother and he gave us discounts whenever we came.

"Are we almost there, darling?" My father asked from the passenger seat.

"Yes, we are. Just a little longer."

My father sighed in exasperation and ran a hand through his hair.

My mother glanced over at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips, "You know, I'm surprised that you don't know the way by now; we used to bring Elsa to Oaken's all the time when she was younger."

She paused, thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I'm surprised that she hasn't asked us to buy it for her yet." She joked, eyes flicking to look at me in the rear view mirror. "Don't be getting any ideas, missy," I giggled and ducked my head behind her seat.

"Details, details." My father responded gruffly.

The grin that had taken residence on my face faded slightly as I peeked out at him. He was not the kindest man, but he was my father. My mother had to practically drag him out the door; he never really liked going out for family type things, but she'd always insist that he'd enjoy himself (which to her credit, he usually did).

"Daddy, you know you didn't _have_ to come," I muttered shyly.

My mother glanced at me in the mirror again, frowning slightly. She swivled her head towards the passenger seat and shared a pointed look with my father.

He sighed before shifting in his seat to face me, a small, but genuine, smile on his lips. "Of course I did, Elsa. You know I wouldn't miss your birthday for anything," He reached one of his hands back to me. "We had a great time last year, and I bet it'll be even better this year, kiddo.

I smiled back at him and took his hand.

My mother bent one of her arms around her seat and laid her hand on mine and my father's intertwined ones.

My smile widened immensely to the point that my cheeks were starting to hurt. I opened my mouth, about to tell them how amazingly happy I was that we were all spending time together, when there was a sudden screech of tires and a flash of blinding light.

A sickening crunch was followed by the terrifying screech of metal on metal.

Gravity threw my body forward in a painful lurch and a white hot pain seared throughout my head. My vision blurred and there was a loud ringing in my ears. I felt dizzy as I looked around.

_Why is the car upside down?_

I raised a shaky hand to me head and felt something sticky and warm along the left side of my head. I moved my hand in front of my eyes and peered through narrowed eyes at the dark, wet substance in my hand. A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach.

It was blood.

My seatbelt was tight around my chest as I heaved uneasily for air.

"M-mommy? Daddy?" I called weakly. I tried to move to see them from the backseat and another wave of pain bowled through my head, making me groan and clench eyes tightly shut.

Vision did not immediately return when I opened my eyes again, but when it did, everything was even blurrier than before.

I felt sick; I was tired. Keeping my eyes open was a demanding struggle.

Over the pounding of my head and the buzzing in my ears, I heard something that faintly resembled sirens. The little I could see was suddenly bathed in red and blue. I could hear what faintly sounded like men shouting.

"Ther- ree people in- re."

"Looks- a hit an- un."

"Hey, kid," A low voice came from the door, causing me to jump. I turned my head to look over and made out the face of a man in the window, realizing the entirety of which was completely shattered, glass everywhere. Panic flared through me. My eyes went wide and my breathing picked up as I strained further against the seatbelt.

"Whoa. Hey, kid, calm down. I'm going to get you out, but I need you to calm down first. Can you do that?" The man's soft smile looked strange because I was looking at him upside down. This man was anything but reassuring.

"You're a cop," I responded, tugging on the tight seatbelt further, starting to hyperventilate.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs. What's your name?"

I took a few shaky deep breaths to slow my breathing before responding, "I'm… I'm…uh… Elsa?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"Hi, Elsa. Don't worry, we'll get you out of here, okay. It looks like you hit your head so we need to get you to the hospital."

"What about my parents?" I asked, panicking again.

"We'll get them to the hospital to," He smiled at me again. "Everything's going to be alright."

I nodded and my vision flashed black again. I shut my eyes tight and grimaced in pain. When I open them again, the man's smile was gone.

"I'm going to have to break the door open, okay?" I just stared at him. His face disappeared from the window and I looked down at the floor of the car.

There was a sudden loud bang on the door which made my head hurt even more. I shut my eyes and covered my ears with the palms of my hands. There was another loud screech as the door was pulled off of the car entirely.

"Hey Elsa, I'm back. I'm going to take your seat belt off and bring you out of the car." The man explained hurriedly.

I felt one of his hands on my shoulder as the other one went to the bottom of the seat, searching for the buckle. I barley heard the click as I flopped off of the seat from my upside down position and into his arms. The movement sent more blaring pains through my head and my vision turned black yet again. When I could see again, there were patches of black still at the very edge of my line of sight that didn't go away.

The man slowly brought me out of the car. As soon as I was out, he stood and ran with me in his arms toward a nearby ambulance. My eyes fluttered shut. It hurt to keep them open, and every time the man's large boots would clomp against the ground, pain would shoot through my skull, each wave more painful than the last.

Only when I felt myself being set down on something did I open my eyes, but only halfway. I was on some sort of cot thing that was being lifted into the back of the ambulance. I made out the face of a lady that was in the back with me as the ambulance's sirens blared, tires launching the vehicle forward.

"Hey sweetie, I need you to stay with me. Stay awake." The ambulance started moving, sirens blaring.

I groaned again, but the sound came out more like a whine. "My head."

"I know it hurts, sweetie. We're going to make it better, but I need you to stay awake."

My eyelids were heavy. Every time I closed them to blink, opening them was more of a struggle. The ringing in my ears had grown louder and louder.

"I'm losing her!" The nurse yelled into a radio. "Come on sweetheart."

"I'm… sorry." I murmured, eyes closing.

Then there was nothing.

xXxXx

_The next morning…_

xXxXx

There were white sheets strewn across my body and a low beeping noise filled the room. I tried to move my head to look around the room, but a throbbing pain stopped me. I moved a hand up to my head and felt a thick bandage wrapped tightly around it.

"Good morning," A sweet voice came from my left.

I moved my head toward the voice slowly. A nurse sat typing on a computer a few feet away from me.

I blinked, "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital. You were in a car accident and you hit your head pretty hard."

I furrowed my brow and tried to make sense of what the nurse just told me. "A car accident? No. No, we were just going to dinner. It was my birthday; mommy was taking me to dinner. Daddy didn't want to but she made him come." I was really confused. _Why is this lady saying things that aren't true? _

"It's okay, dear. You were in an accident and you hit your head so hard you may not be able to remember some things. Can I ask you a few questions to see how much you can remember?"

"Okay," I replied, eyes narrowed in slight suspicion.

"What is your full name?"

"Elsa Emma Winters," I responded with a small nod.

"How old are you?"

"Seven. Wait, no. I'm eight. My birthday was yesterday so I'm eight now." I explained.

"Where were you going last night?"

"Going to a birthday dinner at Oaken's. It's my favorite restaurant."

"Who was with you?"

"Mom and dad." My eyes widened. "Mom and dad! Where are they? Are they okay?"

"Your dad is in a room down the hall. He was knocked out by the airbag in the car but he's going to be okay."

"What about my mom?" My lower lip trembled.

The nurse paused and looked at me sadly. "Your mom, like you, was hit in the head. Only she was hit a lot harder than you were. The EMT's tried everything they could, but after a hit like that, she was gone before they could get her to an ambulance."

"So she's…she's dead?"

The nurse nodded in affirmation. I looked down at my hands which were folded in my lap. _Mom's dead…She's gone._ I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Would you like to see your father?"

"Yes please," I sniffed.

The nurse helped me out of the bed and into the hall. We walked side by side. I reached up and without thinking, grabbed her hand as we walked. She looked down at me and I pulled my hand away sheepishly.

"I'm sorry. I just always walk with my mom this way. Or, used to, I guess,"' I turned my head to look straight down the hall. "We'd hold hands I mean. I guess I just forgot that you're not her and I… and I-"I stopped talking and moved my gaze to my feet.

I felt the nurse reach down and take my hand in hers once more. I looked back up at her, the surprise evident in my teary eyes. "I would love to hold your hand, dear." I gave her a small, watery smile.

About a minute later we stopped outside of a room and the nurse dropped my hand. "He's right in here," She knocked on the door before opening it slightly.

"Thank you, Miss," I replied before walking through the door.

"Such a sweet child." I heard her say before the door closed.

I turned and peered into the dark room. The curtains were drawn and the light from television in the corner was very dim. My father was sitting up in the fluffy hospital bed, an unusual scowl in place.

"Daddy," I said quietly to get his attention as I crossed the room.

"_You_," He growled at me; I froze on my way to the side of his bed. "You're the reason that your mother is dead!" He yelled.

"Daddy, I-"

"You what? Were you going to say it wasn't your fault? It's _all_ your fault. If she hadn't insisted on taking your sorry ass out to dinner, if it hadn't been your stupid birthday, we wouldn't have gone out. That hooligan wouldn't have run into us. And she. Would. Not. Be. Dead!" He hollered at me.

"No-"

"Oh, yes. It's all true and you know it."

"No I- It's not my fault!" Tears were streaming down my face as I willed him to listen to me.

"It's all your fault you ungrateful little idiot!"

"No-"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"NO," I gasped as I shot up in my bed. I looked around for a minute, panting ever so slightly before slowly lowering myself onto the backs of my forearms, stomach and arms alike protesting. A wince later, I was laying flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling.

It was a dream. No, it was a memory. A memory of what had happened ten years ago to an innocent child. She lost her mother physically, and her father emotionally. Who was this poor child? That poor child was yours truly, Elsa Winters. My mother died and my father blamed me. We were never close, but I needed a father then and had to do without. From that day on he stopped acting like my father. He was a stranger, bearing no resemblance to the man I had learned to adore over the course of eight years. Now, all I would get from him was food, a few meager clothes, and a place to sleep at night.

He abandoned me when I needed him the most and I have learned to hate him for that. After that night, I would be punished, beaten, by fist and by belt, for stupid things like bringing home B's from school, or not looking him in the eye when he was talking.

At first I supposed it could have been worse. But who was I kidding? That man wasn't my father anymore.

And my mother…My mother was gone. Gone because I was selfish. Gone because I just had to make that tat night about me.

_But, hey,_ my mind would remind me bitterly, _the past was in the past. You can't do anything now._

I rubbed my eyes and looked around at my alarm clock. 4:53. I sighed. _I should just get up and get ready for my first day_. We recently moved to Arendelle and today would be my first day as a senior at the town's local high school, Arendelle High. As if moving twice a year minimum wasn't bad enough, now I had to integrate myself into a school that had started a month ago.

_School starts at 7:30, but I'm not going to get anymore sleep so I might as well get ready now_. I gingerly got up (I was sporting several more bruises courtesy of my dear father from the night before) and walked over to the closet. I grabbed my only pair of slightly ripped jeans, a black t-shirt with some band or another's logo, and a black sweatshirt that was too big for me. I swiped a beanie of the floor and pulled it over my head, above my platinum blonde braid.

I quietly made my way out of my room with my plain black backpack slung over one of my shoulders. I quickly brushed my teeth before strolling through the living room and into the kitchen. I grabbed a sandwich out of the fridge and put it in my bag before walking out the door and into the light of the rising sun, on my way to school.

_Don't mess today up, Elsa. You only get one first impression so shape yourself into what you want to be for the rest of the year. Get people to leave you alone and stay away from you. Other people don't need your problems… Make today count._


	2. Chapter 2

Revised on 7/6/15

A/N

Okay, here's chapter two. I hope you guys like it. I've got a basic storyline that I don't want to stray too far from, but I'd love to hear any and all ideas you guys have.

xXxXx

Anna's POV

I was awakened by the loud dinging of my cell phone. I blindly reached an arm out to grab it and knocked over the lamp on my bedside table. _Typical._

"Crap," I groaned as I sat up and angrily grabbed my phone. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was my best friend Kristoff calling. I jabbed the 'answer' button and placed the phone to my ear.

"What, Kristoff?" I asked exasperated.

"Whoa, calm down feisty pants. Are you ready to go?"

"Ready to go where? Where would we possibly be going this early in the morning on a Sunday?" I asked as I flopped back down onto my pillows.

"Uh, Anna? Today's Monday. We have school in twenty minutes."

"Mmm," I groaned, closing my eyes._ Wait._"Wait, what?" I asked, confused as I popped an eye open and looked at the calendar on the wall next to my bed. "Oh, shit!" I yelled as I sprung out of bed. In the process, my foot got wrapped around my blankets and I tripped over the edge of the bed, landing on the floor with a very audible, "oomph". I could hear Kristoff roaring with laughter on the other end of the phone.

"Shut up, Kristoff," I muttered into the phone before hanging up on him.

I picked myself up off of the floor and kicked my pajamas off. I threw on a shirt and pants before rushing to the bathroom. As usual, my red hair was all over the place. I brushed my teeth and proceeded to tame the mane of hair with a comb.

Ten minutes later I burst out of the front door of my house with a backpack in my arms and a piece of toast in my mouth. Kristoff was waiting in his truck in my driveway.

"Took you long enough," He laughed. "Oh and by the way, most people would consider hanging up on someone to be extremely rude."

"Shut up and drive." I groaned and took a small makeup bag out of my backpack, applying it while looking in the truck's small mirror.

Kristoff rolled his eyes in response and reversed out of the driveway.

We arrived at school three minutes before the bell. _Ugh, I still need to go to my locker. I better hurry; if I'm late again Mr. Harrison is going to kill me._

I practically sprinted through the halls to my locker, drawing strange looks from other students as I went. I got to my locker and put the combination in. Tugged up on the handle and-nothing happened. _Oh, no. stupid locker! Open!_ I tried several more times, quickly losing what little patience I had. On the fourth time I tried, the locker finally swung open. _Oh thank goodness!_

I retrieved my notebooks in record speed and booked it to my first period Trig class. The bell rang just as I approached the door to the classroom. _God dammit! I'm late again._ I sighed and pulled the door open. I tried to make it to my seat without being noticed but the creaking of the door alerted Mr. Harrison of my presence.

"Miss Andersen," His stern voice rang out from behind me, "You're late again."

I turned around looking sheepish. "Sorry Mr. Harrison. I woke up late and my locker wouldn't open and-"

"Excuses will get you nowhere in my class Miss Andersen. Please take your seat. If you are late again, I will be calling your parents."

Several of my classmates snickered and it was all I could do to not turn around and tell them to stuff it.

"Yes, sir," I grumbled moodily as I walked back to my desk with my head down. I was almost positive that my face was just as red, if not more red than my hair.

"Okay class. Today we'll be discussing-"Mr. Harrison was cut off by the door opening once more.

Standing in the doorway was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. _And I know that sounds really cliché but it's true so shut up._

She wore almost all black, except for her jeans. Her platinum blonde hair was done in an intricate braid that was carelessly thrown over her shoulder and a plain black beanie was placed on the top of her head. I was captivated by her deep, icy blue eyes. Her facial features were twisted into a small scowl and her eyes were darting around to take in the room.

_Wow. Is she some sort of angel? I swear she's an angel._

"Is this Mr. Harrison's Trigonometry class?" She asked, voice rasping in all the right ways.

_Oh my god, that voice though. Even her voice sounds so angelic. _

"Yes. I'm Mr. Harrison and you are?"

"New kid. Elsa Winters."

_Elsa. That's a beautiful name... That's it, I'm sold. She's definitely an angel. Ooh, or maybe a goddess…?_

_"Miss Winters, you should know that students in this school are not permitted to wear hats. I'm going to have to ask you to remove yours."_

_Elsa's scowl deepened and she crossed her arms in front of her. "I don't see any signs that say I can't wear it."_

_Mr. Harrison's eyebrows twitched upward in a sign of telltale shock. In fact, everyone in the room was shocked. _

_Who does this angel-goddess think she is? The Rosa Parks of student dress code violations?_

_"Actually," Mr. Harrison's voice filled the silent room, "If you would care to take a look at the student dress code on page eleven of your student planner, I think you'll find your 'sign'. If you do not remove your hat, I'm going to have to escort to the principal's office."_

_Elsa narrowed her eyes slightly at Mr. Harrison. She stood still for a moment, seeming to calculate the weight of Mr. Harrison's threat before she finally lifted a hand and swiped the beanie from her head. _

"Now then Miss Winters, please take a seat. It looks like the only open one is next to Miss Andersen. Anna, please raise your hand."

Hearing my name snapped me out of my new-girl/angel/goddess/Rosa Parks related stupor. I looked past Mr. Harrison at Elsa and raised my hand. Elsa's eyes caught mine. Her demeanor didn't shift in the slightest as she made her way over to the empty desk next to me._ Oh, god. don't be stupid Anna._

She slid gracefully into the seat while dropping her bag off of her shoulders. She took out an old looking notebook and pencil before slumping into the seat with one leg propped up against the other. She twiddled the pencil in her hands, looking as though she would rather be anywhere else.

Mr. Harrison had just finished discussing what we were going to do for the day and was now passing out worksheets. I was too busy staring, no gawking, at Elsa that I didn't hear what we were supposed to be doing. _I honestly really don't care though._

"Hey. Yo, princess," Elsa was snapping in front of my face to get my attention.

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Do you need some-"

"Harrison just said that we need to work in pairs on this sheet and everyone else has a partner so I'm stuck with you. Were you even listening?" I opened my mouth to speak but she cut me off. "You know what, I don't care. Let's just get this done."

I stared at her for a moment as she began on the worksheet before opening my mouth to address her. "Hey, uh, it's Elsa right? I was thinking-"

"No," Elsa cut across me again without looking up from her worksheet, "don't talk to me."

I was shocked at how cold she was being. I decided that she was just nervous about being new here and shrugged it off. After several minutes of staring blankly at my own worksheet, I looked over again and saw Elsa's pencil flying over her paper, easily working the problems. I turned back to my paper and looked over the first problem furrowing my brow and grumbling to myself. _This makes no sense at all. Why is trig even a thing?_

"You done yet, princess?" Elsa called out. "Here, you can look at mine." I looked at her paper and saw that, indeed, all of the problems were worked out and completed. By the look of it, they were correct too.

The clock showed that we still had twenty minutes of class left, and Elsa and I were finished. She was drawing in a battered looking sketchbook and I didn't know what to do. I figured I would try and talk to her to learn more about her and make her feel more welcome.

"Whatcha drawing?" I asked her.

"A dragon," She deadpanned, not looking up.

"Cool. So-uh, you like math?"

"Hey, remember that time I told you not to talk to me?"

I ignored her response, determined to get her to actually talk to me. "Where'd you move from?"

"None of your business."

"Okay. Why did you move?"

No response.

"Where do you live?"I tried again.

"What do you not get about the phrase 'none of your business'?" She snapped at me.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to make small talk. I thought maybe we could be friends."

Elsa stopped drawing and turned her body so she was facing me. The features of her face were twisted into an unpleasant smirk. "Friends," She scoffed. "I don't have friends. I don't need friends. And I don't want friends." The smirk was gone and had been replaced by a sneer. "I don't need help. But if you really think you want to help me so, so bad, princess, you can start by leaving me the hell alone."

The bell rang and Elsa stood up and stalked out of the room almost immediately. I sat there staring after her. _How could anyone be so cold, so isolated? Someone as beautiful as her deserves the world and more. That settles it. I'm going to crack her shell and break down her icy walls if it's the last thing I do._

_xXxXx_

_Six hours later…_

_xXxXx_

The bell that signaled the end of the day rang and I shuffled with the crowd of kids to my locker. I opened my locker, magically on the first try this time around, and my phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket to see a text from my mom.

'_Hey honey. Can you pick up some chips at the gas station on your way home? We're all out'_

'_Sure thing. Wouldn't want you to go into withdrawal'_ I replied. Mom's favorite snack was a bag chips. The brand, type, and flavor didn't matter. If they were chips, she loved them.

My phone vibrated with a response.

'_Thanks x'_

I slammed my locker shut, stowing my phone in my pocket once more and walking out the main entrance. I didn't have a car yet, even though I was a senior, so Kristoff would usually give me a ride in the morning and I walked home in the afternoon when he went to some sport's or another's practice. True to what I told my mom, I made a detour to the closest gas station for her precious snacks.

I walked in and made my way to the back of the store where I saw a plethora of the bagged treats. I grabbed a bag randomly and made my way up one of the thin aisles.

There was a person in front of me taking their time looking at all of the candy bars; I didn't have enough room to get around behind them so I waited for them to move, albeit somewhat impatiently. Just as I was about to turn and go down another aisle, the person reached out, grabbed two plain Hershey bars, and put them in the back pocket of their jeans before pulling a rather baggy sweatshirt down over it.

They looked side to side, up the aisle, and then finally backwards, apparently making sure no one had seen. When they glanced behind I saw that it was none other than Elsa.

When she saw me, she raised her eyebrows before leveling her face off into a smirk as she winked at me. She turned and strode out the sliding doors casually.

I stood in place, staring after her. I could hear her in my head saying, 'it's none of your business, princess'. Sighing, I shook my head and walked up to the counter to pay for the chips.

I walked out of the store after paying, the bagged chips in hand. I walked back toward the route I usually take home. I had just passed the side of the gas station when a hand grabbed my upper arm and pulled me around the corner of the building. I started screaming.

"Would you shut up?" A feminine voice drawled as a hand was cupped over my mouth. I looked to see Elsa standing in front of me, hand muting my mouth.

_Wow, her skin is really soft... No, stop it Anna. Not right now. Her hands are cold. But they smell like apples...Wow, way to be a creep, Anna. But then again, she's the one with her hand over your mouth._

I swatted her hand away, "Jesus, Elsa! I barley know you, why would you scare me like that?"

"I didn't know you would react like that, okay? I'm sorry," She looked sincere so I nodded in acceptance of the apology.

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to say thanks for not ratting me out back there. I really appreciate it," She said looking sheepish. She handed me one of the chocolate bars from her back pocket. "I really love chocolate you see, but I don't get it very often," Elsa explained.

"I love chocolate too!" I said and she gave me a small smile.

"So uh- Anna right?" I nodded at her. "I was just wondering if you uh- maybe still wanted to be friends?" She asked shyly, looking hopeful.

"I thought you didn't want friends. I thought you were little Miss Independent and didn't need any friends." I stated coldly.

_Wait- What the hell are you doing Anna? This gorgeous, angel/goddess/Rosa Parks of a girl is asking if she can be your friend and you're being a bitch. What's wrong with you?_

Elsa's face fell at my words and she looked at her ripped and muddy sneakers. "I know I was rude, I'm sorry. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone and I figured if I acted like that then people would. I'll go now, see you in class."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. The cold, indifferent punk from Trig class earlier had been a rouse that just melted away into an insecure loner in front of my eyes.

I reached out as she made to leave and grabbed her by the wrist. She turned, apparently startled by the contact.

She yanked her arm back, clutching it to her chest and looking wide eyed at my hand, which was still raised and dangling in the air.

"I…sorry. I'm just not used to people touching me," Elsa stammered, looking at the ground and subconsciously rubbing her wrist through her baggy sweatshirt.

"No, it's okay, I'm sorry. But I'd love to be your friend." I breathed out. _Just her friend?_ My conscience asked me. _Shut up you._

She smiled the biggest smile I had seen on her so far, "Great."


	3. Chapter 3

Revised on 7/6/15

A/N

This chapter is a continuation of the last one. Trigger Warning: Abuse ahead. It doesn't go into detail, but it's there.

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

_Little does she know that I want to be more than friends._ I thought as Anna started rambling about random things. _No, that's stupid, Elsa. You literally just met her._

Anna's red hair framed the features of her face perfectly. I noticed a strip of white that stood out amongst the fiery red. _Does she dye it? I think it makes a wonderful contrast_ _regardless. _

"So I have a question for you. If you don't want to answer it that's perfectly fine. You totally don't have to if you don't want to." I nodded for her to continue. "Why were you so... you know… rude and stuff when we first met in Mr. Harrison's class?"

I was surprised by the question; it was not at all what I expected. "Uh... Well I figured that if I was like that then people wouldn't want to talk to me and they would leave me alone," I responded slowly.

"But why would you want to be alone? No one wants to be alone."

_Because I'm a fuckup and other normal people don't need my problems plaguing them. I don't want to be alone, but it's in the best interest of everyone else that I am. _

"Do I need to have a reason? I want to be alone and that's that," I said instead, a little too harshly. I turned away when I saw the hurt and confusion reflected in Anna's eyes.

"Look, I'll see you in school. I've got to go," I said still not looking at her. I took a couple of steps forward and then stopped before looking back at her. Her brows were furrowed in confusion as she stared back at me. I dropped my gaze to my shoes as I brought the other chocolate bar out of my pocket, tossing it in front of her, and walking off without looking back again.

xXxXx

After my trip to the gas station and impromptu conversation with Anna, I was about fifteen minutes late getting home. _Father is going to kill me for being late._

I stopped calling him dad after my mother died. It seemed too friendly, to caring. It was everything he wasn't.

I entered the apartment thinking that I would try to sneak into my room. I knew it was pointless however when I saw my father on the couch sitting across from the door, staring at me.

_Well, so much for trying not to be noticed._

"Why are you late?" He asked in a dangerous tone.

"I-uh- was with a friend," I responded nervously, subconsciously wrapping my arms around myself.

"Who is this friend?"

"Um…" _I can't tell him about Anna. He would jump to a conclusion within ten seconds and then absolutely flip out. He doesn't need to know about someone as sweet as her. _"I was with um-"

"Awe, was my little girl with a _boy_, perhaps?" He asked mockingly. "Oh no, that's ridiculous. No one would ever want you in _that _kind of way. Not a stupid little bitch like you."

I looked down at the floor trying my best to ignore his words. It wasn't uncommon to have my father go into twenty minute rants about how useless I was.

"Are you even listening to me?" He barked suddenly, making me snap my head up to look him in the eye. "I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to get you to see the truth so you don't become even more of an embarrassment than you already are and you don't even have the manners to listen to me. You really are a fuckup, you know that right?" I kept my face blank and continued to look at him, not answering his seemingly rhetorical question.

His face quickly twisted into a look of fury upon my silence. He leapt off of the couch, strode angrily toward me, and backhanded me hard across the face.

"That's four things you have done in the last five minutes to warrant this," He growled, pointing a stubby finger in my face. "First, you come home late. Then you try to lie to me. You ignore me, and then don't answer my questions," He yelled as he slapped me again.

"You deserve every second of this," He growled as he removed his belt and wrapped the end of it around his hand.

xXxXx

_Earlier…_

xXxXx

Anna's POV

"But why would you want to be alone? No one wants to be alone," I said to her.

Elsa took a minute before responding. "Do I need to have a reason? I want to be alone and that's that." The answer was harsh and cold. Just like Elsa's appearance earlier in the day. Her tone and sudden change of attitude was shocking and hurtful.

_We were getting along great not even three minutes ago. What did I do? What did I say to trigger such a sudden revert to her fake, icy personality? She opened up to me, showed me that there was a confused, lone girl inside, masked by the cold that consumed her in seconds._

As I stared at Elsa's retreating back, I realized that I had only chipped away a small piece of her shell. _Something about what I said to her triggered a seemingly instinctive retreat into herself. That means that whatever caused the retreat can be broken down with more help._

"Look, I'll see you in school. I've got to go," Elsa had taken a few steps away, but stopped and turned back to look at me once more. We stared at each other for a moment before she dropped her head, put her hand in her back pocket, and withdrew the second Hershey bar. She tossed the bar in front of my feet before turning and walking away.

I glanced down at the bar of chocolate when I could no longer see Elsa_._

_"I really love chocolate you see, but I don't get it very often." Is what she had told me. Then why would she just give me both the bars she risked stealing?_

_I sighed as she disappeared from view._

_None of this makes sense and I'm going to figure it all out, whether she likes it or not._

_xXxXx_

_Two months later…_

_xXxXx_

It had been two months since Elsa had moved to Arendelle and first attended Arendelle High. Since then, I'd sat with her every day at lunch, no matter how many times she'd glared and told me to go away. I knew now that she was only like that because she didn't want anyone else to approach her. After school, we've hung out at a nearby park and I'd learned a many small things about her. She loved chocolate and reading. Her favorite subject was math and her favorite food besides chocolate was apples. Curiously though, anytime we'd approach the subject of her past or family, she'd just shut herself down again.

"Miss Andersen, if you could please review for me one of the three examples of the Law of Cosines that we have just been discussing..." Mr. Harrison's voice rang out.

_Oh shit. I haven't been paying attention to anything he's said all period._

I tried to buy myself some time to think. "Which one?" I asked, racking my brains for something that might have anything to do with anything about the Law of Cosines.

"Any one is fine, Miss Andersen."

_Dammit. He knows that I wasn't paying attention and he's putting me on the spot anyway._

"Side A equals side B squared plus side C squared minus two BC times the cosine of angle A." A voice hissed from next to me, lips barely moving.

I looked over slightly to see Elsa looking over at me though the corner of her peripheral vision, whispering to me._ She's helping you, you dipshit. She just gave you the answer, use it._

"Um... Side A is equal to side B squared plus side C squared minus two times BC times the cosine of angle A," I repeated carefully to Mr. Harrison. He looked surprised for a moment that I answered correctly but then continued and addressed the rest of the class about the night's homework.

I breathed out a small sigh of relief and snuck a peek over at Elsa. She was listening adamantly to Mr. Harrison's words, though she wore a small smile of triumph on her face.

At the end of the day I walked to my locker to retrieve the books I needed to complete my homework. I opened the cold metal door and withdrew several notebooks and switched them out with the ones already in my bag. Placing the last one into the locker, I withdrew my hand to zip up my backpack. A split-second after I withdrew it, another hand belonging to another person slammed the open door shut. If I had been any slower, my hand would have been crushed between the door.

I looked up and the owner of the hand only to see my ass of and ex boyfriend, Hans Southern, smirking down at me. I had broken up with him about a month ago when I realized that he was a good for nothing jerk with extreme anger management problems.

"Good day Anna," He drawled.

"It was before I ran into you," I replied, staring at him coldly.

"Come on now, don't be like that. I've been doing some thinking recently-"

"That must have hurt," I cut in.

"-and you're going to get back together with me," He finished, as if there had been no interruption.

"Excuse me? For starters, you don't tell me that I'm going to go back out with you. Second, I'm _not_ getting back together with you now, and I don't plan on doing it ever. Stop being so hardheaded for once in your life Hans, and realize that the world is not all about you."

To that, he simply chuckled, "I thought you might say something like that. Although I was not expecting that 'hardheaded' comment; that was a low blow." He shoved me back into my recently closed locker. "I, fortunately, made myself a little plan for how I was going to get you to go out with me even after you'd declined," He used his left hand to hold my hands above my head as he drew his right one back into a tight fist. I closed my eyes and turned my head so that half of it was hidden in my arm, awaiting the oncoming blow from Hans' rock of a hand.

When it never came however, I popped one eye open to see what had happened. The pressure of Hans' hand covering my own was gone and I lowered my hands from above my head taking in the scene in front of me. Hans' back was turned to me and he was facing Elsa, who was clutching her bleeding mouth; he had obviously just punched her in the face.

He turned back to me, his face contorted in a look of pure fury.

"Now, as I was saying before this bitch here so rudely interrupted me…" He said, seething, as he approached me. He raised his clenched fist again. Out of nowhere, a shoe came up from behind him and went straight up between his thighs. He groaned and sunk to the floor, revealing Elsa behind him, lowering her leg.

"Let's get out of here, Anna," She said still glaring at Hans' slumped form.

"You'll pay for that you bitch. Both of you!" He bellowed as we walked away.

"Yeah, whatever. Send the bill to my accountant, will you?" Elsa yelled back over her shoulder. I couldn't help but laugh as we walked out of the building. When we were out, I turned and looked at Elsa, smile vanishing almost immediately.

"Oh my gosh, your mouth!" I looked her over intently, a light panic flaring. "I'm so sorry, that was all my fault. I'm taking you to my house and we're going to get you cleaned up," I announced, prepared to not take 'no' for an answer.

"That's not necessary Anna. I'm fine, really. It's just a little bit of blood, I've dealt with worse, it's not a big deal," She protested.

I gaped at her, "Not a big deal? Someone just punched you in the face and that's not a big deal?"

She sighed and shifted her gaze to her feet before replying with a small, "Fine."

xXxXx

Ten minutes later we arrived at my house. I led Elsa through the maze of rooms and up a set of stairs to my bedroom. I used a washcloth to clean off the blood from her lips, ignoring her protests that she could do it herself.

_I honestly can't believe her. She stepped in front of Hans for me, and gotten punched in the face, again, _for me_, and now she won't even let me help her. Well, she's got another thing coming._

"I still don't get why you got yourself punched in the face in the first place and why you're being so nonchalant about it afterwards."

I stood and tossed the, now slightly bloody, washcloth into my laundry basket.

"What's not to get?" She sighed. "I saw some dude in the hall about to hit you in the face. I grabbed his shoulder and told him to knock it off. He socked me in the face and turned around to hit you again, so I kicked him as hard as I could in the nuts. That's what happened. It's not a big deal because there's nothing wrong with me taking a hit for a friend," Elsa paused. "We are friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah, of course." I muttered absentmindedly as I stared at her, brows furrowed.

_She insists on others leaving her alone, but she's like the best friend that a friend could ask for…_

Elsa turned toward me to see my staring. "…What?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing," I shook my head and sat down next to her on my bed, still feeling genuinely touched. "Well, thank you. And thanks for the help in Harrison's class earlier, I wasn't listening and I had no clue what he was talking about. He likes making me look bad," I said, looking over at her.

"It's no big deal. You seem to have a problem not paying attention," She replied shrugging yet smiling. She looked over at me. Her bottom lip was split pretty badly, but she told me not to worry about it.

I had never been this close to her before. I noticed a light dashing of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She had a slight rosy tint beneath them that outlined them and made me wonder how I had never seen them before. I let my eyes wander from her cheeks down to her lips. I had unconsciously leaned forward, ever so slightly closer.

My obvious staring and slight leaning didn't go unnoticed by Elsa, but her reaction went unnoticed by me. I didn't notice her eyes widen and the sudden hitch when her breath caught in her throat.

I jumped slightly when Elsa abruptly stood up and strode towards the door. "I'm sorry Anna, I'm late. I should have been home an hour ago; my father is going to be furious. I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow."

I threw myself back onto the bed when I heard the front door slam shut.

_Anna you idiot, what were you thinking? You probably really freaked her out now. You ma'am, are a genius. A freaking genius, Anna. You've done it now._

_xXxXx_

Elsa's POV

_What the hell was that? No. She wasn't going to kiss me. You're misreading the situation Elsa. It only seemed like that because you're infatuated with her and everything she does. Regardless, you're over an hour late and you're not even home yet. If father was mad about you being late last time, he's going to be pissed today._

I sighed at the thought of what would be awaiting me when I got home. "This is good for you," Father would say, "I'm teaching you to learn to be punctual."

He sickened me. He was constantly giving himself excuses for what he did so he wouldn't feel bad about himself and he could go to sleep at night. It sickened me that I was too weak-willed to do anything about it.

And yet, I believed it all. All of the casual destructive remarks, the constant criticizing… It didn't matter what he said to me anymore. The same words echoed throughout my head constantly. I was just as bad as he was.

Five minutes later I stood outside of my apartment. I hesitated when I put my hand on the knob. _You could just not go in. You could never go back in. You could leave this forever._ I shook my head at myself as I opened the door. _I can't._

My father's voice came from behind me as I shut the door, "You're late."

xXxXx

A/N

Sorry for the late update, I didn't have internet access for a couple of days.


	4. Chapter 4

Revised on 7/6/15

Warning: Mentions of self harm, slight bullying, and abuse.

xXxXx

Anna's POV

It had been a week since I tried to kiss Elsa and I still hadn't explained myself. It wasn't my fault though, the only time I saw her anymore is in Harrison's class and she didn't talk to me then; it was almost like she was purposely avoiding me.

_She probably is though. I mean, I would be pretty weirded out if one of the only friends I'd ever had tried to kiss me._

_I felt so stupid. Being Elsa's friend had been the best thing about the school year thus far. Spending time with her was enlightening in so many ways, and I enjoyed it immensely. Making her smile, making her laugh, learning everything that I could about her so I could help in providing the best possible friendship was amazing, and I loved it. I loved being her friend, and I let my stupid, one sided feelings ruin it all._

_Months of friendship, gone like that, because I just kept pushing._

I sighed as I continued walking through the school halls. I got to my locker and practically threw my things into it.

_I just hope we can stay friends. At least that way I'll be able to see her, but not think about how beautiful she is. And I can talk to her without telling her how amazing she is. I can-oh who am I kidding? I'm going to implode if I suppress this any longer. I've at least got to talk to her and try to explain that I shouldn't have done it and ask if we can go back and stop acting like complete strangers._

I glanced around from my locker only to see a certain platinum blonde walking to the front door, headphones in her ears. _Speak of the devil._

I took a single step toward her, initially curious as to why she was still here; I mean after all, the bell rang fifteen minutes ago. Then I remembered that a while ago she told me that a couple days a week she stayed late after school in the art room.

I stayed after today to retrieve some extra notes from my science teacher, and I'm glad I did; if I hadn't then I wouldn't have seen Elsa and we might not have talked for who knows how long; it could have been another week.

"Elsa! Hey! I need to talk to you!" I said loudly, slamming my locker shut and running off toward her.

She continued staring at the floor, the music in her ears covering the sound of my voice. I looked past her to see Hans approaching with his usual smirk on his face, his stupid 'friends' following behind him.

"Elsa! Hans is-" I started to yell as Hans stuck his leg out when she passed him. Again, she was deaf to my words as she tripped over Hans' leg and face planted on the ground.

"I told you I'd make you pay," He said to her as he cracked his knuckles and one of his 'friends' ripped the headphones from her ears as the other one snickered.

Elsa had blood dribbling out of both nostrils as she glared up at him. "I'm surprised you need two of your little lapdogs to try and beat me up Hans," She said wiping blood onto her sleeve as she stood. "I mean really. Three on one borders cowardly don't you think? Especially when we're only talking about some girl, right?"

"At least I have friends," He retorted lamely, still smirking as his friends flanked him.

As Elsa opened her mouth to reply, I rushed forward and pushed Hans back into his cronies.

"I'm her friend," I said to him as I narrowed my eyes and glared daggers. Hans' smirk widened as her barked out a laugh, making to approach the two of us but suddenly stopped, turned, and ran off, his friends in tow, as a teacher can into view.

"Are you okay?" I asked Elsa as I turned and helped her to her feet; her nose was still bleeding quite profusely. I noticed, but didn't pay attention to the small wince she gave as she straightened up; nor did I pay attention to her bending over slightly, clutching her ribs. I figured it was from the fall.

"I'm fine, Anna. Thank you," Elsa glanced down at the floor before stooping down to collect her headphones. Her eyes screwed shut and she sucked in a sharp breath as she slowly straightened up again. "I think these have seen better days though."

The headphones, where they laid in Elsa's palm, did indeed look worse for the wear. One of the buds was smashed, wires poking out from underneath the roughed up bud. A long tear ran through the center of the headphones' main wire, lengthening the shredded chord.

Elsa blew a breath threw parted lips, the air ruffling her loose bangs, a sad gleam present in her eyes. "Doesn't look like I'll be listening to music anytime soon. Pity."

"Don't you have another pair?" I asked.

She look from the ruined headphones to me and gave a small shrug, "Nope. It stinks, you know? I find music very… freeing," Elsa sighed and spoke again, so quiet I had barely heard her, "It's my only escape." Her lip trembled slightly and she blinked.

Not sure if I was supposed to hear, I was quiet a moment, before hesitantly offering, "Would you like to come to my house and get cleaned up? I can lend you a jacket, seeing as you have blood all over yours."

"Actually, that would be great. My father knows that I stay after school on Friday's to help the art teacher, so he won't expect me home for like an hour. Mrs. Smith told me that she didn't need help today, so I have some time before I need to be home." I didn't notice that her face became glazed over and stony as she spoke of her father for the briefest moment.

"Awesome. It's not far as you know, but it's still about a ten minute walk."

"Let's get going then." She said smiling.

xXxXx

Ten minutes or so later, I led Elsa back up to my room as I had done on her previous visit. I brought her to my room and told her to wait as I retrieved a box of tissues from under the sink in my bathroom.

I returned to my room to see Elsa trying to use the end of her sleeve to staunch the, thankfully light, blood flow that was surprisingly not wielding, even after the ten minute walk.

"Here, use these," I said while handing her the box.

"Thank you," She replied, accepting the box and pulling out one of the white fluffy tissues.

After another minute or so, the bleeding finally stopped. Elsa asked me if there was somewhere she could clean the blood off of her face and hands, which were both caked in drying blood. I showed her where the bathroom was and patiently waited for her to return.

When she came back, all of the blood had been cleaned off.

"I'm glad your nose _finally_ stopped bleeding. I was afraid that you would pass out from the blood loss or something," I said to her, attempting to lighten the mood a bit. She simply chuckled in response.

Elsa crossed the room to her backpack. I had told her earlier she could drop it off in the corner of my room. I watched as she turned her back to me and lifted her jacket over her head before rolling it up and placing (more like shoving) it inside her backpack.

As her arms were extended up over her head, her shirt slightly rode up her back. I couldn't help but follow it up. I noticed what seemed like a few dark and discolored bruises before the shirt covered them again.

Elsa bent over again slightly, holding her ribs, muttering to herself. "Should not have done that. Should not have done that." I barely heard her say while holding her ribs tighter.

_Those bruises couldn't have been from Hans tripping her. I mean, first off, she didn't fall on her back, and bruises that bad wouldn't form in just ten minutes like that. And her ribs… She fell on her face and arms, so her arms would have the second worse injuries, next to her nose. What's going on with her? _

"Elsa-"I started cautiously as I spoke to her still turned back as she siphoned through her bag, apparently looking for something.

"Hmm?"

I bit my lip, searching for a way to phrase my request without having it sound strange and creepy. "Would you uh- take off your shirt?" I asked, cringing as I thought of the unintended, unspoken innuendo.

Elsa promptly froze in place. "What?"

"Take off your shirt," I said, more sternly this time.

Elsa turned to stare at me, looking absolutely terrified. "W-why? Never mind, that doesn't matter. No. I'm not taking my shirt off." She held a small, battered old phone in her hand, apparently what she had been searching through her bag for.

"Elsa, I have reason to believe that you're not okay. If you don't take your shirt off, I'll…I'll call the police and tell them someone's hurting you… or I'll check you into a hospital and they'll make you take it off instead," I said, rising from my sitting position on the edge of my bed.

Okay, honestly, I had no clue what I was even talking about. And I knew I was totally being an ass about the whole thing, but I was worried and didn't know what else to do. I couldn't just pretend like I hadn't seen the signs but I mean, it wasn't like Elsa would take her shirt off for a friend that she'd only known for a bit, I totally understood that. They were pitiful and empty threats but their affect on Elsa was tremendous.

Elsa was visibly trembling as she turned and bent down, placing the phone on top of her bag. She raised two shaking arms over her head, slowing dragging the baby blue shirt up her back. She pulled it over her head and held it against her stomach, still facing the wall.

With her back still to me, I could see many bruises and welts tracing her back, varying in size and color.

"Oh my god…Elsa…"

My mouth had dropped open as my eyes scanned the skin of her back. She turned to face me, staring blankly at the floor. The hand holding her shirt dropped to her side, revealing more dark bruises spotting the skin around her ribs. My eyes traveled down to look at her arms and I saw bright red cuts lining them horizontally.

"Who did this to you?" I asked, referring to the bruises, completely mortified.

"N-no one. It-It's nothing. I'm clumsy. I-I fell down the stairs," She stuttered.

"Elsa, I'm not stupid. I know you didn't fall down any stairs. Even if you did, it wouldn't cause those sort of bruises. And those cuts are self inflicted, not from stairs. I need you to tell me who did this to you; let me help you. For once, just please let me help you. Don't shut yourself down again. You don't have to be alone, and you don't have to be afraid; I'm here and I want to help you."

I rushed forward as Elsa collapsed on the ground, shaking and crying while clutching at her hair. I sat next to her and slowly made to put a hand on her shoulder, giving her amble time to move away. When she didn't, I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Almost immediately, she turned to me and buried her face into my stomach while her hands grasped at the back of my shirt. My shirt was wet from her tears as I gently placed my arms around her shoulders, so as not to press against her many bruises.

"Shh, it's okay. It's going to be okay. I've got you," I whispered as I absentmindedly stroked her hair with my hand.

_This explains everything. Her being so closed off, so far away from everyone. Someone's abusing her, hurting her. And she cuts herself. She's closed herself off and thought she was bothering everyone by simply being here. _My heart clenched as I thought of the things this poor girl must be going through, and going through alone. Elsa was curled into a ball with her face still hidden by my shirt.

We stayed like this for several more minutes until Elsa's sobs morphed into quiet sniffles before fading completely. She shifted her head to look up at me through puffy eyes, red from the crying. She pulled away from the embrace and looked at my shirt, eyeing the damp material.

"Your shirt…I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's just a shirt. You have nothing to be sorry for…Hey, last time you were here… I'm sorry that I… you know… tried to kiss you," I said. I figured we might as well get it out of the way now.

Elsa was silent for a moment before whispering, "Don't be, I get it," She gazed at the floor, brows slightly furrowed. "I just-you know more about me than anyone else. I feel the same, don't get me wrong," She glanced up, eyeing me again. "I just thought you were rushing things kind and I wasn't even one hundred percent sure what you were thinking, and I didn't know what else to do," She paused and looked back up at me. "But I do now."

Elsa took a breath and leaned in to me, slowly pressing her lips to mine. My eyes fluttered shut as I let my thoughts cloud over momentarily. I focused on how soft her lips were and how warm her breath was as I moved a hand up to lightly cup her cheek.

I was suddenly on cloud nine, transported from the gloom of the present. There was definitely hesitation, from the both of us, as if we were both expecting the other to pull away. Oh, and by the way, whoever described the feeling as 'butterflies in the stomach' was seriously wrong. It would be better described as mines going off inside of you, rattling organs and sending tremor after tremor of rumbling aftershocks through your heart.

When Elsa pulled away, I dropped my hand slowly back into my lap, exhaling a shaky breath through my nose.

"I'm sorry I left so suddenly that day. And that I haven't talked to you in a week. It just…seemed too good to be true and I didn't know what to think… but I really was late that afternoon, I didn't lie about that," Elsa said, sounded just as affected by the too brief kiss as I was.

"It's no problem but… I think we're sort of ignoring what just happened. Before this, I mean. Someone's hurting you Elsa." I watched her eyes flicker from mine to the carpeted floor, and the lack of denial bowled through me like a punch to the gut. "You need to let me help you," I continued, trying to steady the hurricane of emotions barreling throughout my head. "I'm not going to press you for details you don't want to give, but I can't just let this go. I'm not going to let you go through this alone anymore. Tell me who does this to you."

Elsa remained silent and clenched her jaw.

I sighed and tried again, speaking softly, "Okay. Can you at least tell me when they do it to you? Like, when they do it... You call me afterwards and I'll come help you?"

"Okay," She whispered meekly.

"Okay," I confirmed. "I know you told me a while ago that you don't use your phone like at all, but, here's my number. You can call me whenever you need." Elsa took the piece of paper and gave me a small smile. "So," I paused, figuring that it would be best to redirect the conversation elsewhere, "do you want to go get something to eat?" I asked. "It's fine if you don't want to, or if you don't have any time but-"I stopped myself from starting a long rambling session.

"Actually," She started, looking at the alarm clock on my nightstand, "I do still have some time, and I would love to go somewhere with you."

She turned to me and smiled and I smiled back. "Let's get going then," I said, repeated her words to me before we departed school grounds to come to my house. Her smile widened as she put her lifted her shirt back over her head and smoothed it down. She threw a spare jacket over herself but didn't zip it up.

I stood up when Elsa was, lowering a hand down to her. After I helped her up, she laced her fingers with mine.

"Thank you Anna," Came the almost shy response.

We walked out of my house, still holding hands.

xXxXx

A/N

I didn't really like writing this chapter, so I'm sorry if it's bad. Reviews are lovely.


	5. Chapter 5

Revised on 7/7/15

Anna's POV

I watched the crisp snowflakes waft down from the clouded sky through the window in Mr. Harris stuffy classroom. What I wouldn't have given to have been outside in the snow right then. I loved building snowmen and having snowball fights and returning home with red cheeks, still cool from the freezing weather.

_Yes_, I affirmed, _December is the best month ever._

I sighed and returned my attention to Mr. Harrison who was still droning on about this, that and the other.

I looked over, curious as to what Elsa may be doing, to see her doodling on a spare sheet of paper in her notebook. She was clearing not paying attention and wasn't trying to hide it very well. Being in the back of the room did have its perks I guess. For one, the teacher couldn't really pick you out for not doing something amongst the sea of student's faces.

Elsa and had been kind of 'unofficially' dating since that one afternoon a few weeks back. We weren't being open about it because Elsa wasn't ready to for everyone to know and she seemed very worried that her father might somehow figure it out. She had never given me a reason as to why she seemed so afraid of him but I never prodded her into saying more than she wanted and I never thought much about any of it. It was mainly us spending time together after school and stealing quick kisses in empty hallways.

Every day I would bring Elsa a pack of M&amp;M's and a Hershey bar. She would always insist on sharing them with me (though I never really argued back because after all, chocolate is the food of the gods and the one food that I can't refuse).

"Class dismissed," Mr. Harrison said as the bell rang. I glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was indeed 8:15-end of first period. _Today could not go by any slower._ I thought as I slouched out of the room.

"Something wrong?" Elsa's voice rang out behind me.

I stopped and turned. "No, I just feel like today is going to be a really long day. That was just first period and it seemed like a year long," I paused and gasped dramatically. "Maybe Mr. Harrison covered the sound of the original bell and then had another bell ring later so we would have more class time. Maybe he set the clocks back so class would be longer. He did it, he did it, and I know it. Fun fact about clocks, actually, they consist of-"

I was talking at what felt like a hundred miles an hour when Elsa's voice cut over mine, "Anna. You're rambling again," She said with a giggle. I went bright red and ended my sentence with a stutter as she went on. "It's cute though, don't worry. And though I'm pretty sure Mr. Harrison didn't tamper with the clocks or the bell system, I wouldn't put it past him. Now come on. You should get to class before you get in trouble for being late… again."

"That was one time I was late because I was talking to you. Okay, maybe two times, but you were late too!"

Elsa shook her head, still smiling. "I have this period off, remember? You can't really be late to your free period."

"Yeah, that's true," I mumbled.

"Go on to class Anna. I'll see you after school." I huffed at her.

"But that's so far away!"I groaned as I tipped my chin to the ceiling, exaggerating my point. Elsa's soft fingers gripped my chin, pulling my head back down before pressing a kiss to my lips.

I pulled back, alarmed, "What are you doing? I thought you didn't want people to know that we were…like, you know…?"

She rolled her eyes, "There's no one here Anna." I looked around me to see that indeed, the halls had emptied. "Everyone went to class. Just like you should."

"Oh hush," I replied before kissing her again. "If I want to kiss my girlfriend then I will kiss my girlfriend, my physics class be damned."

Elsa simply smiled, "Get to class."

"Yes, mother," I droned sarcastically, though I smiled back. _How could I not smile back though? Elsa has the best smile, one carved by angels._

I watched Elsa's back as she retreated through the hall, the smile on my face bordering dopey at that point. _I knew it. The first day I saw her, I knew she was somehow related to angels...or goddesses...or Rosa Parks...Yeah, still haven't quite figured that out yet._

The loud bellowing of the bell snapped me from my daze.

I sighed. _Late again._

xXxXx

I trudged down the slippery hall at the end of the day, en route to my locker. Per the usual, Elsa was already standing by it waiting for me. She stood patiently beside me as I switched out the books I needed before we walked to the front door.

"Do you have time to come over today?" I asked her.

"I always have time for you."

I rolled my eyes though my grin grew. _Wow. And I thought I was cliché._

"You know that's not what I meant. Do you have time to come over before you have to be home today?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you meant. But yes, I do have time. Mrs. Smith told me during class today that she doesn't need help afterschool anymore. I don't plan on telling my father that because he wouldn't let me stay out late anymore; it would take away the time I get to spend with you."

We walked out the doors and started toward the usual route to her house while a light snow came down from above.

"You could just tell your father that you want to spend time with your girlfriend."

"No. No I can't. I haven't exactly told him that I'm into girls and I don't plan on ever telling him," She spoke rapidly, practically spitting the words out.

"You've got to tell your parents eventually. What about your mother?"

Elsa's expression dropped momentarily before she turned her head and looked away. "My mom died when I was eight. I couldn't tell her even if I wanted to."

I immediately tried to back track, my chest constricting in empathy as I stumbled over my words, "Oh crap, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up-"

"It's fine," She said, looking back at me. "It was ten years ago."

Elsa looked down again, eyes slightly clouded as she muttered, "The past is in the past and the past can't be changed."

I moved a hand to hers as we walked side by side, tangling our fingers together, our shoulders brushing in the process.

"Why can't you tell your father?" I asked slowly, brushing my thumb over the back of Elsa's hand, trying not to hit any more sensitive spots as the conversation progressed.

There was a long pause before she spoke, "He's not exactly the most understanding person," She started carefully, "He's also a pretty big homophobe."

"But maybe if he knew that his own daughter-"

"Look, I'll think about it, but I really don't want to talk about him," She spoke over me.

We walked in an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to my house, watching the snow fall and listening to the wind howl. Though the space surrounding us rebounded an awkward silence, Elsa kept her eyes forward but never released my hand.

Periodically throughout the ten minute walk, I glanced over at her, fidgeting unsurely with my free hand. Elsa's face remained unreadable, eyes blank, brows slightly furrowed as if she was thinking something over.

_Her mother died… that could have something to do with why she isolated herself. She's not as isolated now; I've drawn her out a little. There's something she's not telling me about her father. She doesn't talk about him much, and when she does, she speaks with such contempt; you'd think she absolutely despises him. It seems like whenever I get any small answers more questions rise than before. _

_As we walked, my foot caught a crack in the sidewalk, causing me to stumble. Elsa's free hand rose to wrap around my torso, halting my momentum as she steadied me._

_I glanced over at her when I regained my feet and mumbled an embarrassed, "Sorry," as we continued down the path._

_Her response was nonverbal, a simple squeeze of my hand as we continued walking, each of us once again submersed in our thoughts._

_xXxXx_

Elsa's POV

_She wants me to tell him. Anna wants me to tell my homophobic father that I'm gay. He'll flip. He'll give me hell. Nothing will ever get any better, it'll only get worse. _

A loud creak jolted me from my thoughts; we were once again at Anna's front door, stomping the snow from our shoes as the door swung inward. We walked inside and were greeted by a cherry voice coming from the kitchen.

"That you, Anna?"

"Yeah, mom, it's me," She yelled back before turning to me. "Want to meet my mom?" She asked me, seeming unsure as she twisted her hands together.

"Sure," I replied. Anna's parents had yet to be home the previous times I had been there, so I'd never actually met them and they'd never met me.

"Can I tell her? About… you know…us?"

"Go for it."

Upon my response, Anna let out an extremely high pitched squeal. I attempted to hide my laugh behind my hand, but the attempt was futile. Anna scoffed in mock offense and slapped my arm playfully. "It's not nice to laugh at people Els. I was just excited is all."

"How can I not laugh at you when you make sounds like that?" I asked, still chuckling.

"Hush."

Anna led me into the kitchen where a woman, who I presumed to be her mother, was mixing what looked like some kind of dough in a bowl. The woman looked up when we entered and smiled warmly at the two of us.

Anna turned to me, "Elsa, this is my mom. Mom, this is my girlfriend, Elsa."

"Hello, Elsa. It's wonderful to meet you. I would shake your hand or something, but I'd get flour all over you. I'm making cookies," The woman laughed in a way that resembled Anna. She didn't seem perturbed at all by the fact that I was Anna's girlfriend and a foreign wave of confidence washed over me.

"It's nice to meet you to, Mrs. Andersen," I replied as Anna started squealing again before rambling on about how the cookies had better be chocolate chip and leading me up to her room.

"Behave up there girls. No doing anything-"

"Moooommmm," Anna groaned, knowing where that sentence was going, "Please." She turned back to address me, "I'm sorry about her, she likes to joke."

"No, don't apologize. I think she's awesome," I said, shrugging.

Anna started talking about all the times her mother had embarrassed her in public. I waited patiently for a pause so I could tell her what I had been thinking about on our way over, and one came a few minutes later.

Anna had taken a breath and flopped down onto her bed, arm flung carelessly over her eyes.

"Hey, Anna?"

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking about the conversation we had on the way here and… I think you're right. I'm going to tell my father. About us, I mean."

Anna shifted on the bed, propping herself up on her elbows, "That's awesome, Elsa. What made you change your mind?"

I shrugged my shoulders again, "I don't know really. After talking to your mother and seeing how she just immediately accepted me made me think that maybe there's a little hope that my father won't completely freak out."

"I can come with you if you want?" She offered, sitting up fully.

"Would you?"

"Of course," Anna responded immediately, determination and… something else that I couldn't quite place shining in her eyes. "When were you thinking of telling him?"

"I was thinking maybe later today. I mean, there's nothing to gain or lose by waiting right?"

"Right," She affirmed, "We can go now if you want?"

I paused a moment before nodding, "Yeah," I took a breath, "Yeah, let's go now."

Anna grinned and rose from the bed, taking my hand, leading me down the stairs and out the front door. We had walked about fifteen feet down the sidewalk when Anna suddenly dropped my hand, turned, and ran back into the house.

"Anna?" I called after her.

"Give me a sec. I need to get something." She yelled back over her shoulder.

I raised an eyebrow at her retreating back, stuffing my hands into my jacket pockets.

She returned a minute later with two freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on a napkin in her hand. She ran back down to me and we started walking.

"Cookie?" Anna asked, gesturing to the napkin.

"Sure, thank you."

"Well too bad," She responded, a shit eating grin taking up residence on her face, "They're both mine."

I gasped and placed a hand on my chest, feigning hurt. "That's not fair," I said in mock shock, "There are two cookies and two of us."

"Looks like someone shouldn't have laughed at me earlier, huh?" Anna giggled and, after a pause, said, "I was just kidding, here you go," She handed me a cookie before biting into her own. She sighed contentedly while chewing. "There's nothing like a nice warm cookie during the winter. It heats you up from the inside out. For like a couple of seconds of course, but still." A pause. "Wow, that sounded kind of creepy."

I resisted the urge to chuckle at Anna once more, biting the inside of my lip to conceal a dopey smile.

We walked, me leading and her following, as I brought her to my apartment. After we finished our cookies she looked over at me, face lightly stained with chocolate.

"Um, Anna. You've a little chocolate on your face."

"What? Where?" She asked before rubbing her face with her hand, smearing the chocolate further around her lips.

I giggled and quickly removed my old phone from my pocket and snapped a picture.

"Hey!" Anna pouted, "That's not nice."

"I'm keeping that picture, no matter what you say," I told her, still chuckling.

At Anna's increased pouty face I grinned, "Awe, don't be like that. Come here," We stopped our slow walk, and I rested a hand on the side of her face, raising the napkin that the vanished cookies had rested in, to gingerly wipe the chocolate off.

The napkin collected the offending chocolate as I brushed my fingers lightly against her lips. The thumb of my free hand grazed over Anna's cheekbone and I was purposely avoiding meeting her eyes as she stared, not so subtly, at me.

I tucked the napkin into the pocket of my jacket, not yet removing my hand from the side of Anna's face. I finally looked up to meet Anna's eyes, moving my newly freed hand up to cup the other side of her face symmetrically.

Our slow breaths mingled visibly in the chilled winter air as I leaned in closer to her, resting my forehead against hers, neither of us breaking eye contact.

A small smile sprouted across her lips as her eyes gleamed in the sunlight and she brought her arms up behind me to rest on my back. Her smile was contagious; I felt one of my own slowly spread along the features of my face.

Tilting my head to the side, I closed the small space between us, pressing my cool lips to her warm ones.

Anna's eyes fluttered shut, mine quickly following suit, as she inhaled a short breath through her nose, moving her lips smoothly along mine.

One of my hands weaved itself into Anna's fiery hair, tangling in her soft locks as one of Anna's own trailed up my back to rest at the nape of my neck.

Thoughts and worries about the upcoming talk with my father flew from my mind as Anna bit down lightly on my lower lip before soothing it with a swipe of her tongue and I let out an involuntary gasp at the contact. Anna's tongue flooded my senses as it moved against mine and I was no longer capable of forming coherent thoughts.

I moved away several moments later, sucking air in greedily. I pulled away a bit further to look Anna in the eye.

A small lopsided grin found its way to my face, "Chocolate's gone."

Anna grinned back, "Thanks."

I pressed a final, chaste kiss to her lips, "No problem."

She wrapped an arm around the back of my shoulder blades and I did the same as we continued on in a comfortable silence, each consumed by our thoughts.

My mind, regretfully, turned away from Anna and to my father.

_What's father going to say? How's he going to react? What am I even doing?_

I internally sighed and glanced at Anna, walking beside me.

I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what was going to happen. But I knew it would be okay.

It would be okay as long as I had Anna with me.


	6. Chapter 6

Revised on 7/7/15

Elsa's POV

_I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell him. I'm actually going to tell him. This is happening. You know what, I don't care what he's going to say, or what his reaction will be as long as he doesn't try to do something to Anna. Oh, but still, I can't believe I'm going to tell him. What the hell is wrong with me?...Rhetorical question, don't answer that._

"Hey? You okay?" Anna's voice rang out from beside me.

We were almost to my apartment and the reality of what I was about to do was finally setting in on me. I was more stressed than I had ever been in my entire life. My breaths were shallow, my head was pounding, and my hands were clamming up.

I took several deep breaths before answering and forcing a smile, "I'm fine."

Anna was silent for a moment as she looked me over silently, concern obvious in her eyes. "You're doing the right thing you know."

"Yeah," I said in a small voice. I wasn't sure if I believed her.

"Oh!" Anna exclaimed, the suddenness of it startling me. "I forgot, I was going to give these to you." I glanced over to see a pair of headphones in her palm. "I grabbed them when I went back to get those cookies my mom made. I wanted to give them to you because I know you like listening to music and Hans broke your headphones the last time we ran into him. I meant to give them to you sooner, but I'm kind of a forgetful person as I'm sure you know."

She was fidgeting slightly as she waited for my response. I wasn't quite sure I had one though.

I was completely speechless. I didn't know what to say or how to respond to her. She was right of course; I did like listening to music. It was one of my only ways to escape from the reality that I lived in. I had told Anna just as much. I could escape through the sweet sounds and lose myself in the artist's lyrics. Deciphering some kind of meaning behind the lyrics made it even better.

When Hans and his stupid friends broke the only pair of headphones I had, it hurt more than the physical pain of my face smashing into the cold floor. And now here I was, struggling to find words to voice my gratitude to this wonderful angel of a girl that was walking beside me.

I realized that I was gaping at the headphones in her hand as I struggled to form the right words to voice the whirlwind in my head.

"I-I don't… You don't have to… I- Thank you," I managed to stutter out finally, chest clenching as I reveled in the utter adoration I had for the girl next to me.

"You're right; I don't have to give these to you," Anna conceded with a nod of her head, "But I am. It's not a problem because I've got two other pairs beside these and I don't really use them anyway." She said as I extended my hand to take them.

I ran my thumb along her palm before taking the headphones and pocketing them.

She smiled but shivered as a wind blew around from behind us. I shook my head at her, already in the process of removing my sweatshirt and pulling it over her head.

"I told you to bring a jacket, Anna."

"I didn't think I'd need one," She responded sheepishly, "But this is yours, you need it-."

I silenced her with a look, taking her hand in mine once more.

After another few minutes, we were stopped outside of my apartment. I could feel Anna's eyes on me as I stood frozen, staring at the door. She made no move to speak as I continued staring, but she raised her arm and set her hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at her and she nodded her head, assuring me that it was going to be alright.

My mind was blank, all previous thoughts gone now that we were actually there.

I let my eyes flutter shut as I sighed. I dropped my chin to my chest as I reached into my pocket for my key. Holding it in a trembling hand, I stepped forward to fit it into the lock. I paused again before slowly turning it and unlocking it. There was another short pause before I grasped the handle and pushed the door open with a shaky hand.

I entered the apartment and held the door open while Anna entered behind me. There was a glint of curiosity in her eyes as she looked around and surveyed the apartment. She was probably noting the lack of knick knacks and pictures that most places seem to have adorning the walls and countertops, I realized somewhat bitterly.

"Where the hell have you been?" My father's voice rang out from the kitchen. "You're late again. This time you're really going to get-"He stopped abruptly when he exited the kitchen to see that we were not the only ones in the room. His surprise was evident as he spoke, "Oh, hello. I'm Elsa's father. And you are?" He asked in a friendly tone with a fake smile.

My jaw clenched. In fear, in anger, I couldn't tell.

"Anna, this is my father. Father, this is my g-good friend, Anna," I had switched 'girlfriend' to 'good friend' without even thinking about what I was saying.

_Damn it! You were supposed to tell him she's your girlfriend! Can't you do anything right?_ Anna noticed my change of word in her introduction and lightly bumped me in the side with her elbow. I bit the inside of my cheek in frustration.

"It's very nice to meet you Anna. What brings you here? Well, Elsa obviously, but you know what I mean," My father chuckled and let loose another broad smile. His deceiving nature sickened me. The lies, the fake smiles; he was nothing but a phony, a despicable human being.

"Elsa thought it would be nice for me to meet you."

"Did she now?" He said, turning his attention to me. "Well, seeing as we've met, I'm going to leave. I suggest you do the same," He said, still smiling that stupid smile. The smile didn't reach his eyes, which glared and spelled a most certain danger. He turned away from the two of us and began walking toward his room.

"Anna's my girlfriend," I blurted out. My heart jumped to my throat and I tensed almost immediately.

_I said it. I said it. I told him. Oh my god what did I just do? Oh no. No, no, no, I just screwed __everything__ up. _

I held my breath as my father froze on the spot. He slowly turned to face me and I chewed on my lower lip as I awaited any type of response. I tried to glance over at Anna but my eyes wouldn't move off of the slowly rotating figure of my father. My nerves had me practically jumping out of my skin. Every single part of me was screaming to go, to take Anna and leave right then and there. But still, there I stood, frozen in place.

"What did you just say?" He asked when he had turned all the way to face us, his fake smile only slightly faded.

I gulped and took a breath before repeating myself, knowing that it was beyond too late to take it back, "Anna is my girlfriend."

I reached over to where Anna stood and took her hand in mine, as if accentuating my point with the physical contact.

My father's smile slowly slid off his face until an obviously fake look of incredulousness had replaced it. "Oh, I heard you the first time. It's just kind of…difficult trying to take in the fact that," He laughed, mockingly, "After eighteen years of knowing my daughter, and a lifetime of despising those types of unnatural relations, I find that my daughter herself is not only associated with them," He leered at Anna, "But she actually _is_ one."

As my father laughed humorlessly again, I chanced speaking, "Father, I just-"I stopped as he raised his voice to speak over me.

"I have gone my entire life completely hating those people. Those who think being gay," He practically spat the word out, "Is acceptable. And now, I find that the person closest to me is as big of a faggot as they are."

My jaw dropped; he had some nerve.

"Person closest to you?" I scoffed, "Person closest to you, hm." I paused thoughtfully, "No. No, I think you mean 'human punching bag' closest to you," I glared at him, temper rising as I struggled to keep my voice level. "You and I have _never_ been close, and you know that I utterly despise you." I was so angry; I was struggling to form words properly. "You-you deserve to rot in hell you bloated douche bag." I seethed and dropped Anna's hand.

My mind was clouding quickly with a building rage that I had never felt before.

_Who the actual hell does he think he is? _

"What the fuck did you just say to me?!" He bellowed. "How _dare_ you speak to me that way?! What would your mother say if she heard the way you are speaking to your father?"

"What would my mother say if she knew what you do to me every night? What would my mother say if she knew that you beat me?!" I shrieked at him, losing all sense of reason. "You stopped being my father after she died; you proved then that you only ever put up with me because of her. I'm sick of your lying, your fake smiles. I'm sick of all of this shit and I'm not going to put up with it anymore! I've had to deal with you for _ten years_ and _I am done_!" I had no clue where my sudden confidence had come from but I was going to use it to the best of my ability. I knew this wouldn't end well, but I'd be damned if I went down without a fight.

"She would applaud me! Your mother would be glad that I was trying to help you, to fix you! I have always, _always_, known that you are a lowlife, worthless piece of shit but that didn't stop me from trying to help you. I can see now that you are also a filthy, disgusting dyke and you are broken beyond repair."

I opened my mouth and closed it, words failing me, repeating the action again. I had thought something like this would happen, but I honestly hadn't expected it to hurt this much. I hadn't expected it to hurt more than the years of physical torment.

I tried to hold everything in, but was betrayed by a trembling lip as I spoke again, "I'm not asking you to accept me, I just need you to understand-"My father's previous words buried themselves in my mind like a piece of rouge shrapnel, and I could feel tears forming behind my eyes as I choked on the lump in my throat.

"But I can't understand! I can't understand how I've known you for your whole life, eighteen years, I have been here since the day you were born, and you've never shown signs of this- this condition. I do know for a fact though that there is no cure for this type of sickness."

"It's not a sickness, it's a lifestyle!" I bellowed at him, anger flaring again.

"It's a wrong and unnatural choice!" He shouted back. He stopped for a moment, apparently contemplating something. "Oh, I get it now. I'd never noticed this before because you didn't develop it until we moved here. That means this is all _your_ fault." He growled, rounding on Anna. "This is all because of _you... _I'm going to fix this."

_He took a step forward._

_Oh, god. Anna. I completely forgot she was here._

My father stalked across the room towards Anna and I.

Anna turned her head to face me, looking both confused and terrified. My father approached her and tightened his hand into a fist. _Oh, hell no._

Without thinking, I launched myself the few steps towards Anna and grabbed the arms of her jacket to pull her behind me, using my body as a crude shield. My father let his fist fly regardless, and my head shot backwards from the blow as pain blossomed through the side of my skull.

I still had my hands around Anna's forearms so I had nothing to block, deflect, or soften the hit. I stumbled backward into Anna, causing us both to fall back a couple of steps. She was gripping the fabric of my long sleeve shirt around the middle of my back to stop herself from running into the wall. My face stung and I could feel my eye starting to swell but that only added fuel to the fire that had been lit inside of me.

I was glaring at my father with my brows furrowed in fury, teeth bared. "Anna, you need to leave," I growled in a low voice.

She ducked out from behind me. "No Elsa, I can-"

"Anna, please."

"I can't just leave Elsa-"

I took as deep of a breath as I could before turning and opening the front door. "Please go; we'll talk later." I was breathing heavily, trying to suppress my building anger. I was going to explode, I could feel it.

"You're not going to see her again-"My father started in a loud angry voice.

"I'm sorry, was I talking to you?!"I screamed back at him.

"Elsa, let me-"

"Enough, Anna." I ground out.

"Elsa, _please_, just-"

"I SAID ENOUGH! GET OUT!" I yelled as I pushed her through the open door before slamming it in her face.

xXxXx

Anna's POV

"GET OUT!" Elsa had all but screamed at me before just shoving me through the door and closing it roughly in my face. _She shut me out. No, she threw me out. I need to help her; she needs to get out of here. _

I pounded on the, once again, locked door. I doubted the two inside could hear me over the sheer volume of their yelling. The words being thrown around were muffled through the door but I could tell they were heated and (obviously) very loud. Elsa had exploding in a fit of anger and was screaming even louder than her father.

After getting no acknowledgment after a few moments of knocking and pleading for her to open the door and let me help, I decided to wait for her to come out. I walked around the side of the building and waited. Sure enough, about two minutes later, there was a loud slam of the door and Elsa stalked past me.

I followed her to an empty park where she plopped down onto a bench and practically ripped her hair from its disheveled braid before hunching over her knees with her face in her hands. I came up closer to her and heard her muffled sobbing. I lowered myself onto the cold metal of the bench and lightly put a hand on her arm. In response, her head snapped over to see what had touched her. When she saw it was me and not some random creep, she didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around me in a tight embrace and bury her face in my shoulder.

I didn't say anything, but held onto Elsa until she pulled away several minutes later. I gazed up at her and brushed a finger over the blacked area around her eye.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," She said, looking into her lap. "I blew up at you when you were just trying to help me." I stayed silent, still not quite knowing what to think, but pulled her into another hug. "I've been kicked out," She said after a pause, "I'm not allowed to go back. He said he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore," She sighed. "I know it's not something to cry over; I've wanted to leave for years. I just, didn't expect it hurt this much," A teardrop streamed down her cheek and I quickly reached up to wipe it away. "I've lost both of my parents now," Elsa smiled bitterly and I pulled her into another firm embrace.

"Don't worry about where to stay, you can live with me. My parents would love to have you stay; you saw how much my mom liked you. You can stay with us as long as you need to." I brushed my fingers soothingly through her hair, which was splayed loosely around her shoulders, out of its usual braid.

Elsa gave another small sob. "You're so kind," She whispered in my ear as her arms tightened around me. "I don't deserve you or your kindness after I screamed at you like that." Her voice sounded a little raspy from being overused.

"It's in the past, don't worry," Repeating something she had said to me earlier.

Elsa pulled back and looked at me through puffy eyes. I smiled softly in what I hoped was a reassuring way, reaching forward to tuck several strands of hair behind her ears. "I do have something I need to ask you though."

"What's that?"

"I need to ask just because I don't understand," I paused, looking down and thinking over how to phrase everything I was thinking. "That day, you let Hans hit you in the face so he didn't hit me. He tried to hurt you again after that because you had helped me. You decided to come out to your father because I told you it might be a good idea, even though you probably expected a reaction like the one he had. As a result of telling him, you were kicked out of your apartment and disowned. And back there, you stepped in front of me and took a full on punch to the face just so I didn't get hit," I looked back up at Elsa.

"All true," She responded with a nod.

"But…why?"

Instead of answering, Elsa sighed, leaned over and kissed me softly.

"Don't you see?" She asked softly after we had pulled apart. "You're everything to me. I'd do anything for you."


	7. Chapter 7

Revised on 7/14/15

A/N

Good news! Thanks to several wonderful reviews full of ideas, the story shall go on!

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

The walk from my father's apartment was a blur, and soon enough, we were soon back at Anna's house. Hazy recollections of Anna's gentle smile, accompanied by her soft palm against mine, and the burning vision of the snow stained sidewalk behind my eyes were the only indication that the walk had occurred.

My eyes drifted to Anna's back as she approached the front door. Said red-head entered through the opening of the wide door and held it open as I came in behind her.

I hesitantly wrapped my hand around Anna's arm as she made to travel further into the house, speaking unsurely, "Hey, Anna? Could you, um…Could you not tell your parents why my dad kicked me out? And, uh… Can you not tell them how my eye got bruised?" I asked in a murmur, pointing to the large black and blue area around my eye.

Anna smiled gently, "Of course Elsa. I won't tell them anything you don't want me too. I promise.," She said with a small smile. She turned and addressed her mother in the next room, "Mom, I'm home," She yelled before turning to face me. I was staring at my shoes, my entire being flooded with the guilt of forcing myself upon her family because I had nowhere else to stay. "Hey, don't worry. They'll let you stay with us for sure. And if they don't, I'll hide you in my closet." Her joke elicited a small chuckle from me as we proceeded through the house.

We entered the kitchen to find Anna's father at the dining table reading a newspaper while her mother was busying herself at the stove. Anna's mother turned and smiled at us.

"It's nice to see you again, Elsa. I wasn't expecting to see you again this evening though…" Mrs. Andersen turned to face her daughter, an expectant gleam in her eye.

"Uh…yeah." I replied quietly, looking at my feet.

"What did you do to your face? You have a big shiner by your eye."

_As if I hadn't noticed._

"I uh…Uh, I um… I ran into a pole." I replied quickly, saying the first thing that came to mind before internally face palming._ Really, Elsa? You ran into a pole? Is that really the best you can think of?_

A loud _smack_ came from beside me; where my face palm had been more metal, Anna's had been physical. Half of her hand cupped her forehead, and the other half covered her eyes. It was quite obvious that she was having the same thoughts I was having as she pursed her lips, trying not to smile.

"Is something wrong, Anna?" Her father asked, glancing up finally, shifting his focus from the paper in his hands to his daughter.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine, small headache is all. Um, Elsa, that's my dad. Dad, this is my girlfriend Elsa."

I gave the man a small smile as he looked past both the paper and Anna, meeting my eyes. He gave me a wide smile as he stood up, crossed the room, and shook my hand. The man had dirty blonde hair, a goatee, and rosy cheeks that highlighted a long nose and welcoming smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Elsa," He beamed.

"Nice to meet you too, sir," I responded. I dropped my gaze back to my ratty sneakers as I picked at my fingernails nervously, eyes occasionally darting up to view the room's occupants.

Anna turned her head to look at me, twisting her hands as she spoke, "So mom, dad… Elsa kind of needs a place to stay for a little while and I was wondering if… you know… if it would be okay for her to stay with us?" Anna asked, a hopeful smile tracing the features of her face as she dropped her hands back to her sides.

"Of course, we would be glad to have Elsa stay." Anna's mother responded almost immediately.

My head shot up and I stared at her with my mouth hanging slightly open._ Wait, what?_

"No need to look so shocked." Her father chimed in with a laugh.

I switched my gaze over to him and then to Anna's mother and then back again. I spent another moment gaping at them, brain blazing with thoughts.

_Oh my god, what do I say? I honestly was expecting a, "No, sorry, dear", before leaving to wander the streets, looking for a place to crash overnight._

My ears burned a brilliant shade of red as I realized I had been silent for too long, blankly staring at Anna's parents without saying anything.

I rushed to accommodate the realization, "I…I don't…a-are you sure? T-thank you." I finally sputtered out.

Anna's mother smiled, "Yes, we're sure. You're quite welcome. You can stay in the guest room for as long as you need to. Anna, be a dear and show her where it is. When you're done, I'm making meatloaf for dinner so you can come down and join us." Her mother said, waving an arm carelessly to the side, grin increasing in size.

"Sure thing, mom. This way, Elsa," Anna replied before leading me by the hand up the stairs.

My legs worked mechanically, mind still buzzing with unspoken gratitude. _Wow, could you have seemed any less ungrateful?_ My mind snapped at me. _Honestly, you should have just insulted them both and then walked out the door; it would've been no more rude than what you were._

When we reached the landing, Anna led me down the hall to a room a little further down from hers. The door was closed, light blue paint gleaming in the setting sun, abstract lines tracing the borders in a darker shade. She flung the door open and stepped inside, pulling me in after her. I looked around the room to see that everything was blue… literally _everything_. The window frame was blue, the fuzzy carpet beneath our feet was blue, the bed frame under the mattress was blue, and all of the sheets, pillows, and blankets were blue. Blue picture frames bordered blue pictures that hung on blue walls. Blue, blue, blue, _blue._ Different shades of course, but you get the picture.

I turned after briefly inspecting the room, only to see Anna looking at me, chewing on her lip somewhat expectantly. "Is it okay? Do you like it?"

I crackled a smile at her, responding, "It's wonderful, I love it. I'm going to hazard a guess that someone here likes the color blue. Am I right?" I asked playfully, cocking an eyebrow at her as she grinned.

"Oh, yeah. That would be me. This used to be my room when I was a little girl. I used to love blue, but when I got a little older I started liking green more. It went better with my hair too, so that was like an added bonus for me. I started pestering my parents to make everything green instead of blue. Of course, they didn't want to spend time and money redecorating a completely blue room so they moved me across the hall into the room I have now. They didn't let me go as overboard with the decorating as they did in here though. This became the guest room and now I guess it's your room."

My smile dropped ever so slightly and I raised my hands, the gesture somewhat defensive as a light panic barreled through me. "You don't have to call it my room; it's still the guest room. I don't know how long I'll need to be here, but I don't want to overstay my welcome."

Anna furrowed her eyebrows slightly, but the smile didn't recede her face. "Elsa, did you even hear what my parents and I have said? You are welcome here for as long as you need a place to stay. You're not intruding and you're not a liability." She said softly.

_Then why do I still feel like I am?_ "Thanks, Anna." I replied instead, with a smile not quite reaching my eyes.

Anna's eyes brightened considerably, "Well, I showed you where you'll be staying. Do you want to go back down and have some of mom's meatloaf? It's _ah-maaaazing._" Anna's face lit up when speaking of her mother's cooking in the most adorable way, I couldn't help but giggle.

I raised a hand to my mouth to muffle the sound but she heard was now staring at me, hands on hips, with a look of mock annoyance. "You won't love it until you try it." She scolded with a smile. "Now come on, I'm starving."

Anna led the way out of the guest room and I grinned at her back with a mumbled, "Surprise, surprise."

"I heard that," She grumbled, falling back to flick my arm.

Her response served only to increase my smile and she pouted, wrapping an arm around the back of my waist. I flung an arm over her shoulders, letting her steer us toward the stairs.

We returned to the kitchen a minute later to see Anna's mother setting the table with plates, napkins, and silverware.

I eyed her somewhat anxiously, as if for whatever reason expecting her to turn and ask me to leave.

"Can I help you with anything, Mrs. Andersen?"

"No thank you, dear. I can manage. You are our guest anyways and it would be rude of me to ask you to help."

I stepped forward, determined to assist, "No, I wouldn't mind. Really, helping you is the least I can do to repay you for letting me stay in your house with you."

"Nonsense, you don't need to repay us for anything. Please come sit and enjoy dinner."

After a twenty minute dinner full of delicious meat loaf and plenty of awkward silences between the conversation (on my part at least), I was back in the guest room preparing for bed. Anna had given me a small gift basket of sorts, consisting of things like brand new toothbrush, tube of toothpaste, and even a new pair of pajamas.

A smile wound across my lips, as it seemed to do often when I was around Anna. It meant a lot that she had thought to provide me with these things.

The pajamas were stripped horizontally in a bright green and black and puffed out around the waistband. The vibrant green clashed with my platinum blonde hair, I noticed with a small grimace, regarding myself almost critically in the bathroom mirror.

I finally tore my eyes away from their duty of examining my entirety, not willing to welcome a bout of what could be considered shame at my child-like appearance, trying to convince myself (not so successfully) that I looked fine.

Moments later, I was swiping the toothbrush back and forth across my teeth, and there was a knock on the door. I spit out the foamy toothpaste and wiped the excess from the corners of my mouth before calling out, "Come in!"

I walked out of the bathroom to see Anna standing in front of the door, twiddling a hairbrush in her fingers. She had yet to change into her pajamas I noticed.

"Hey," She smiled, "I thought you might need a brush." She extended it out to me.

"Thank you. You know, you don't have to give me any of this; I can always go to the store and buy it for myself. I don't want you spending money on me." I tugged lightly on the waistband of the pajama top.

Anna rolled her eyes, "I didn't buy them specifically for you. I bought extras of all this stuff in case we ever had a guest that forgot something." She responded. "Not everything's about you Elsa."

"Th-that's not at all what I was saying." I missed the quip in her voice that told me she was teasing._ Great. Now she thinks I'm conceited. Just what I need. I wasn't trying to sound full of myself, I just wanted her to know she didn't need to spend her money on me; it would make me feel even worse about staying at her house. _

"I know Elsa, I was kidding."

_Oh…kidding. I totally knew that._

Anna lifted both eyebrows as moved her eyes up and down my figure, taking in the sight of me in the slightly too big, outrageously colored sleepwear. She let out a low whistle, "Nice outfit," Sarcasm dripped off of the two words.

"Shut up." I said with a laugh. "I look like bumblebee with serious salt problems," I looked down at myself, subconsciously frowning. "Seriously, this bumblebee is bloated to the extremes."

Anna paused for a moment, looking me over again, "No you don't…" I raised my eyebrows at her, silently communicating a short, "_You hesitated"._

"Okay, yes you do." Anna giggled as she wrapped her arms around me. She pulled away after a moment and leaned in so our noses were touching. "But you're my bloated bumblebee."

It was my turn to let out a whistle, "And I'm the cliché in this relationship."

"Shut it."

Again, a single eyebrow lifted to meet my hairline. "Make me." I breathed out, impassive features masking my face.

Anna's eyes narrowed at the challenge and she leaned forward with a toothy grin.

I inhaled sharply against her lips as she tilted her head so we didn't bump noses, pressing against me in a soft, yet firm kiss. My eyes fluttered shut and one of her arms snaked its way around my neck, resting between my shoulder blades. I wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer, shuddering as her tongue swept across my bottom lip before pushing slowly into my mouth.

Together our tongues danced before the backs of my knees collided against the bed frame. I flopped back onto the bed, Anna landing on top of me, giggling as the movement broke us apart. I barely had time to let out a laugh of my own before her lips were upon mine once more.

Anna trailed a hand under the back of my stripped shirt as I shifted my weight, seamlessly flipping us over without breaking the contact between our lips and tongues. I moved a hand to brush her bangs out of her eyes as my leg dipped between hers.

A small squeak filtered through Anna's lips and my eyes popped open. They fluttered shut again and I experimentally raised my leg a bit higher, pressing my knee lightly into the apex of her legs.

The noise Anna made this time was less of a squeal, and more of a moan.

My brain had narrowed itself down, shunning the world around us; everything was about Anna right now. _Anna. Anna. Anna... And more Anna._ I grazed my fingertips over her hip and received a shiver in response. Small goose bumps erupted across her smooth skin as I ghosted my fingers over her ribcage. She squirmed a bit and pushed my hands back. I halted and pulled away for a second time, worrying that I did something wrong.

"Ticklish." Anna breathed through a sheepish smile before pulling me down again.

I let out a small giggle as our lips met again. _Can she get anymore adorable?_ I let my hands wander up once more, careful not to accidently tickle Anna again._ I'll keep that in mind though, and use it to my advantage another time._ I moved my mouth downwards to press a kiss to her neck before sucking lightly on her pulse point. My fingers found the underside of her bra and traveled up just a little more to brush across the underside of her breasts.

I leaned back and looked Anna in the eye as she grasped one of my hands and pushed it downward. Lower and lower, brushing past her navel and lower still. I swooped in and connected our lips again, gently biting down on her lower lip before soothing it with a swipe of my tongue. With Anna's guidance, my hand had reached the waistline of her jeans and was dancing along the coarse fabric before the red head, chest heaving, slipped in underneath.

Anna broke the kiss and tipped her head back as my fingers grazed teasingly along the waistband of her underwear, swearing under her breath as I purposely avoided the one area she wanted my hand the most. After a few moments, I obliged her, poking my fingers under her underwear, snaking downwards and-BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ.

I froze as we were interrupted by Anna's phone, which was vibrating through the pocket in her jeans. I pushed myself off of her and rolled a bit further across the bed as she withdrew the buzzing device while giving a huff of annoyance.

'_Hey honey, I need you to come down to the kitchen so we can talk. Your father and I have a few questions we'd like to ask you. x'_

Anna half sighed, half whined, "It's my mom, she wants me to go downstairs and meet her in the kitchen." She said as she turned and looked over at me, still breathing heavily.

"Don't keep her waiting then." I responded with a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She pulled the door open and walked out, exiting with a, "Goodnight." She looked back at me once more. "If you need anything tonight, don't hesitate to come get me." She pushed the door closed once more.

xXxXx

Anna's POV

I trudged down the stairs grouchily and stomped lightly into the kitchen to see my parents waiting for me at the dining table.

"Let's actually go and talk in the living room, it'll be more comfortable in there." My mother said, extending an arm towards the doorway as if I hadn't lived in this house for eighteen years and didn't know where the hell I was going.

I followed my parents into the living room, concealing a small scowl that was threatening to take residence upon my lips. T

hey sat themselves on the larger of the two couches and my mother motioned for me to sit on the smaller couch across next to them. I lowered myself into the seat and leaned back, smacking the back of my head against the cabinet behind me.

"Ow!"

The couch was in the very corner of the room which left a fair amount of space behind it that my parents had filled with the cabinet. I would hit my head on it every time I sat down on that damn couch because the corner of it jutted out. I rubbed the back of my head and turned toward the pair, staring expectantly, and waiting for them to initiate the conversation.

"You're not in your pajamas yet." My mother noted. "It's ten fifty three, why are you not in your pajamas yet?"

I stared at her blankly, completely unamused.

"Maybe it's because I'm eighteen and I can put my pajamas on whenever the hell I want, mom."_I swear if you interrupted Elsa and I just so you could pester me about pajamas…_

"Watch your language." My father said sternly. "Don't speak to your mother that way."

"I can speak however I want." I said before I could stop myself, hiding a grimace as my father's expression turned sour.

As he opened his mouth to retort, my mother put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that clearly said, 'Don't argue with her right now.'

I looked back at her, completely aware of their nonverbal communication. _Really? I'm right here. What the hell is this, 'good cop, bad cop'?_

My mother cleared her throat, "We didn't ask any questions earlier Anna, but you knew they would be coming at some point. The time has come, and if Elsa is going to continue staying with us then we need to know why she suddenly can't stay in her own home. We didn't want to pester her about it and we figured," She glanced over at my father before looking back to me, "That she would tell you because you're her girlfriend." My mother stated.

"You're right," I started slowly, thinking through my response carefully. "She did tell me. In fact, I was there minutes before she left." I remembered the promise I made her earlier in the evening._ I need to say this carefully and not give too much away._"Her father kicked her out and she needed a place to stay and now she's here," I accentuated the last sentence.

"Why did her father kick her out?" My father asked, leaning forward and placing his forearms on his knees.

_Because he's an abusing asshole that doesn't understand what a wonderful daughter he has. _

"Because he's a prick," Is what I settled on saying instead.

"Anna!" My mother scolded. "Don't talk about other people like that and watch your mouth."

"But he is!" I insisted, "If you met him, you would call him a prick too. He kicked her out because he's a stuck up asshole that doesn't understand what an amazing daughter he has."

"Language!"

"What are you going to do dad? Make me wash my mouth out with a bar soap? Been there done that, thank you very much." I snapped.

My mother cut in curtly, placing a hand on my father's arm, "Look, Anna. You need to tell us why she was kicked out or I'm afraid we may not be able to let her stay with us anymore."

"What, you think she's some kind of drug lord or something? She didn't get kicked out because she did something illegal or anything like that; her father is just the kind of person that would do that to his daughter," I glared at my parents and continued, "If you make her leave then I'm going too because he disowned her and now I'm the only person left that gives two shits about her and I'm not going to leave her."

"Anna Grace Andersen you watch your language or so help me I'll-"

"You'll _what_ dad?!" I sneered. "You going to ground me? I'm eighteen years old and I can use the language that I want! Puedo usar el lenguaje que quiero! Je peux utiliser la langue que je veux! Ich kann die Sprache, die ich will, verwenden!"

"Stop it, both of you," My mother snapped. "English will do just fine, Anna." She glared at me, and I couldn't tell if she was trying not to laugh or yell. "You said that you're the only person she has left because her father disowned her, but what about her mother?"

"Her mother died when she was eight." I replied.

My mother cooed quietly, "Poor girl," She exchanged a glance with my father and sighed, "You still have only been very vague talking about why she was kicked out of her home."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Look, mom. I told Elsa that I wouldn't say anything she didn't want me to say. I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready."

"Anna," My father spoke up again, "We appreciate the loyalty you're showing to your girlfriend, but can't you just tell-"

"No dad."

My mother sighed heavily, through the nose this time, before looking over at my father yet again. They exchanged a few unspoken words before she turned to me once more. "Alright, Anna. If and when Elsa's ready to tell, then she can. We won't pry or bother either one of you about it. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good." She smiled as she and my father stood up and walked to the room's exit. "Now I think it's time your father and I went to bed. You best get up there yourself." My father left the room and made to go upstairs while my mother lingered in the room for a moment longer. She gave me a playful smile. "Oh, and Anna?"

"Yeah?"

"Put your pajamas on."

I gave her a smile of my own as I crossed the room and gave her a hug. "I will."

"And between you and me, I thought it was very amusing when you started speaking in different languages to your father. Especially because he can't speak anything but English." She said laughing.

I joined in. "Honestly, I don't know where it came from."

"Goodnight, Anna."

"Goodnight, mom."

I walked up the stairs and into my room, put my pajamas on, and slid under the sheets on my bed. Little did I know that as I slowly drifted off, Elsa sat in a dark corner of the living room wedged between the cabinet and the couch, not rising until she was certain we had all gone to bed.

xXxXx

A/N

Sorry about the ridiculously long time it took for me to update. I tried to make up for it by making this a longer chapter. Also, this is the first time I've attempted to write anything sort of smutty so I apologize if it was bad or weird or anything. The languages used in Anna's multi language rant were English, Spanish, French, and German if you guys didn't know.


	8. Chapter 8

Revised on 7/14/15

A/N

I would like to apologize for the ridiculous amount of time it took me to update; I'm working on another story in addition to this one so my attention has been divided. If you are interested in my new story, it's a Disney version of the Hunger Games called _A Tribute To _Disney and I just posted the first chapter so maybe go check it out, read and review it! The updates will be a little more spread out now that I'm working with two stories but they'll still come. I'd also like to state that this is a shorter chapter but I couldn't add much else in without taking away from what's going to go down next chapter so…sorry….please don't hate me.

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

Only when I was absolutely positive that Anna and her parents were in their respective bedrooms did I move from my hiding place. My back was a little stiff and my hand had fallen asleep. I pulled myself over the back of the couch while shaking my hand to get the blood flowing again, groaning quietly as pinpricks spread through the offending appendage.

I sat myself lightly on the couch in the dark living room (Anna had flicked the switch off when she and her mother went upstairs) thinking about the conversation I had overhead. I wasn't planning on eavesdropping, I really wasn't.

I had come downstairs with the intentions of finding my way around the foreign rooms (Anna and I usually stuck to her upstairs room whenever I came over) to get a glass for some water. I had completely freaked out, not knowing if I was even supposed to be in there and practically dove behind the couch milliseconds before they had walked in.

I had honestly thought my heart stopped beating when Anna hit her head against the cabinet next to me and behind her. I hand to put a hand to my mouth because I was worried they would hear me breathing. (_Shit, jumping back here had been a bad idea. But it wasn't like I could leave now. Pop out from behind the couch like, "Hey Anna, Anna's parents. I totally wasn't eavesdropping and I'm just gonna go now. Catch you later!". Yeah, no.) _And when I heard her mother turn the conversation from pajamas and foul language to me, despite knowing I shouldn't have even been there in the first place, I couldn't help but listen adamantly to their every word (albeit they were somewhat muffled by the couch).

The first thing Anna did was tell them that my father kicked me out of the house, and I honest to God, thought she would keep going. Rambling about everything that had happened; I thought she would tell them everything. _But she didn't_. She kept her promise, she didn't tell them why.

_Wow, your first instinct was to think she'd betray you (overdramatic much?) and tell her parents despite promising not to. You got a lot of faith in your girl, don't you, Elsa? _

I had to stifle many giggles as Anna continued using foul language despite her parents' warnings and I was positive that I was as red as a tomato when she called me amazing. _If anything, __she's__ the amazing one_,_ definitely not me._ A few squeaks of laughter escaped my hands when Anna went on her short multi-language rant, but her voice had risen quite loudly at that point, and I was fairly certain that no one had heard. I recognized each of the languages as Spanish, French, and German because, thanks to school, I was fluent in both of the former, and had basic knowledge of the latter. She had said the same thing in each language, 'I can use the language that I want', and for whatever reason I found it absolutely hilarious despite her father's obvious anger and blatant confusion.

They briefly touched on the topic of my mother but it went just as quickly as it had come. I was touched that Anna stayed true to her promise to me throughout the entire conversation and had even threatened to leave her parents house if they told me to go. _Why would she do that for me? I'm not worth her leaving her house and her parents behind._

I sighed and stood up, making my way up the stairs as quietly as I could. I crawled under the blankets on the bed in the guest room and let my mind wander to Anna_._

_ She's so sweet and kind, how could I think for even a moment that I deserve her or her parent's hospitality? She's not only trustworthy, but she's loyal and understanding and caring. She's too good for me. Then again most things are too good for me, but Anna's up at the top of the list for sure._

These thoughts and ones similar plagued my mind as I drifted into an uneasy sleep full of more nightmares about my father and Anna.

xXxXx

Morning came sooner than expected as light from the dawn gushed through the window. I popped an eye open to be almost blinded by a beam of light lying directly across my eye. Groaning, I rolled over and pulled the covers up over my head, hoping for a few more hours of sleep. I lazily sat up just a moment later knowing that once I was awake, there was no going back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I stretched with my arms out before ungracefully rolling out of the bed and onto the floor.

Pulling myself up off of the floor, I wandered into the bathroom while bumping into several things along the way. I brushed my teeth, combed, and braided my hair before trudging back out towards the closet to grab a pair of clothes.

I threw on my usual attire: skinny jeans, t-shirt with some company or another's logo on it, and black hoodie. To top it all off I pulled on my beanie and made my way downstairs. The clock on the wall told me that it was only half past six which would explain why no one else seemed to be up and about yet. _Oh, yeah. Most people aren't up at six in the morning on a Saturday, huh? Come on, Elsa, what the hell were you expecting?_

My stomach growled and I glanced between the pantry and the fridge for a moment, palming my abdomen. _No. No, I'm not hungry. _I turned and pulled the beat up flip phone from my pocket. _No new messages…big surprise there. It's not like anyone ever texts me._

I sat at the kitchen table and pondered what to do until Anna woke up.

_I should do something for her parents… Something to pay them back for letting me stay with them…I don't really have any money right now and I don't have a job…Maybe I could sell something and then like pay her parents some sort of rent. What do I have that I can sell? Oh! I have those gold earrings Uncle Owen gave me for my ninth birthday that I kept in my hidden jewelry box. I think those are real gold…I might have some other jewelry in that box too. I'll sell that stuff to some jewelry store and then give Anna's parents the money. Perfect!_

_My thoughts were only slightly sarcastic._

There was one problem with my plan I soon realized. If I wanted to sell my stuff then I'd have to get it from under my bed. And if I was going to get under my bed then I'd have to go back to my father's apartment.

xXxxx

Anna's POV

I awoke to the sound to the noisy chirping of birds, groaning and swatting lazily at the air as if that would make them vanish._ Stupid things. Don't they know that it's Saturday morning and I'm trying to sleep?_

I yawned and slumped back onto the pillow. I lay there for a few moments before grumbling about the stupid birds and kicking the covers off of me. I slowly slid out of my oh so comfortable bed and made my way to the closet. A few minutes later I entered the bathroom, now wearing clothes instead of pajamas.

My phone buzzed as I made my way downstairs, alerting me of an incoming call. I removed it from my jeans pocket and slid my thumb across the screen, accepting the call. Placing the phone to my ear, I answered.

"Hello?" My voice was slightly strained, still heavy with sleep.

"Hey, Anna, it's Kristoff," A hearty voice rung through my ear.

"Oh, yeah," I yawned, "What's up, Kristoff?"

"My girlfriend is out of town for the weekend and I'm bored out of my mind. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out today? Please? I'm soooo bored."

"I might be able to. Let me see if Elsa had anything she wanted to do today."

I removed the phone from my ear trudged through my door, across the hall to Elsa's room. I knocked on the door before pushing it open quietly, only to find the bed made and no sign of the blonde.

I stumbled to the stairs and entered the kitchen looking for my girlfriend, taking a moment to notice the post-it note on the counter.

'_Hey, Anna, I went out for a bit. I should be back around noon.-Elsa'_

I absentmindedly traced the loopy text, making a face at the note and putting the phone back up to my ear.

"I'm back, Kristoff. Elsa must have had something to do because she's not here right now. Do you still want to hang out?"

"Yeah, I want to go see that new movie that's out. Would you care to join me?"

"Of course, Kristoff, you're my best friend. I'd love to go see a movie with you. Although you know if you were bored you could just go by yourself."

"But then I wouldn't have anybody to make fun of the movie with!" He chuckled.

"I'll meet you at your place in about half an hour and then we can go." I tell him.

"Sounds like a plan."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N:

Hey guys! So, it's kind of been like exactly 11 months since I last updated this story…yeah, sorry about that. Uh, I'm back now though, and I'm working on an updating schedule so I don't drop of the face of the earth like that again. Thanks for all the continuing support by the way!

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

There it was. My father's apartment. My "home". That horrid man had made those living quarters feel anything but homey in the few months I had been imprisoned there.

I sucked in a shaky breath, staring at the door's wooden frame and fiddling with the tip of my braid. I had no way of knowing what lay behind the door and I was starting to second guess even coming back here. _Okay, so maybe this wasn't such a good idea…_

The handle gleamed at me in a mocking way, out of place against the solid door. I had taken it upon myself several weeks before hand to replace the creaky old knob after one of my father's drunken rampages had left it practically useless. The handle was pathetic at best, but it did its job.

I sighed, mentally shaking myself while taking a hand and rubbing my face, folding the other one under my elbow. _Come on, pull yourself together. You need to do this. For Anna's parents...For Anna…_

After several more seconds, I reached into the tight pocket of my skinny jeans and removed a small gleaming key. I slowly raised an arm and set the tips of my fingers on the cool, slim door handle, moving in slightly closer while raising the dulled piece of metal to the keyhole.

The first several half hearted attempts were pathetic to say the least. The key scraped stupidly against the outer edge of the lock as I willed my shaking arms to cooperate with me.

My eyes tore their way from the door to glance down at my scuffed shoes before fluttering shut. I could still feel myself trembling as I took a deep breath once again.

Anna's grinning face coated the back of my eyelids and I opened them once more, sights set on the keyhole. I tenderly managed to slide the key into the lock, twisting it slowly so as to remain quiet. There was still the audible click of the rotating tumblers before I turned the key back again and pulled my arm from the door.

I tucked the key back into the pocket of my jeans and placed a hand gingerly on the handle once more, as if expecting it to try and bite me.

Wrapping my fingers around it even more so, the cool metal surface made contact with my palm and I ever so slowly turned it.

The door then swung inward just as slow and I bit my lip as the wood emitted a rather loud creak. _You know, at this point you should just barge in there and scream that you're back. There would literally be no difference in the amount of sound. What are you, a fucking elephant?_

I huffed at my own incompetence before sticking a leg through the gap in the door, followed by a shoulder as I pushed my small frame into the apartment.

I left the door open a crack as I silently released the handle, stepping along the alcohol stained carpet.

Wrinkling my nose at the foul smell of cigarettes and vomit, I forced myself through the small living room, heading in the opposite direction of my father's bedroom towards my own.

The apartment was in even worse condition than the last time I had been in there, with shards of shattered beer bottles littering the corners of the room and the remains of old food lining just about every flat surface.

I approached a door at the end of a small hallway, a blue door stained with hand painted snowflakes I had done myself several weeks before when my father wasn't home. As much as I had enjoyed tracing the smooth surface with a paintbrush, and as much as I had enjoyed gazing upon the finished designs, I knew that my father would be furious when he saw them. Boy, was I right.

The blue hue radiating from the wood momentarily reminded me of the guest room I was residing in at Anna's house-all blue everything. I wondered if she would like my door too.

I shook my head, snapping myself from reminiscing in old memories and thoughts as I pushed the door open effortlessly and tiptoed into my room.

The ghost of a shocked gasp parted my lips as I took in the room. It was a complete disaster. It looked like a tornado had laid waste to what few material possessions I had.

The floor could not be seen under masses of objects that had once lined my shelves.

Books from the self on the wall were strewn all across the floor with single pages littering the spaces in between. Some were crumpled beyond recognition whereas a few others simply lay dormant on the floor.

The wooden sliding doors of the closet had been unceremoniously ripped from the track like hinges. One rested against the wall and the other was propped up on its side, leaning against the closet's frame. My clothes that had once resided in the closet now joined the books as they sprawled across the carpet.

There was a gaping crack in the mirror on the wall that looked suspiciously fist-sized. Upon closer inspection, a tint of blood on the jagged glass confirmed that theory.

I turned my gaze to the other corner of the room to see my bed, much like the rest of the room, looking entirely worse for the wear. The mattress had been slashed in multiple places and the blankets were lumped pathetically to the side.

I walked further into my room, carefully avoiding stepping on whatever possibly lay beneath my ratty sneakers. A one eighty degree turn within the room revealed large red letters spray painted across the back of my door spelling: DYKE.

My chin dropped to meet my chest and I wrapped themselves around my midriff subconsciously. I grit my teeth and scrunched my brows low over my clenched eyelids. _Why must that bastard ruin every somewhat decent thing in my life? What gives him the right to make every aspect of my life a living hell?_

An unexpected wave of anger shot through my body as hands curled into fists by my side and shook slightly as I found myself struggling to control my quickened breathing.

After a brief moment of deep breaths to slow my racing heart, my eyes snapped open at the sudden sensation of a teardrop hitting my cheek.

I uncurled my hands, tugging my sleeves further down to meet my knuckles before folding my arms back across my midriff once more. I released a breath with a quick puff before shaking my head and crossing over to my bed.

Once beside the disheveled mattress, I sunk to my knees and shifted my weight so I was also resting on my forearms. In this more effective, albeit slightly uncomfortable, position, I was able to peer under the bed.

I allowed the smallest of smiles to grace my face momentarily upon seeing the moderate sized wooden box that had taken shelter in the furthest corner of the bed frame's underside.

Reaching under the bed, my fingertips traced against the smooth surface of the box and I pulled back, bringing it along with me.

I rose from the floor and sat gingerly on the bed, placing the box on my lap. Fumbling only slightly, I withdrew a second key from within the pocket of my jeans and slid it into the lock on the box. It was a pretty cheap lock to tell the truth, but hey, it did its job well enough.

Slipping the gleaming key back into my pocket, I lifted the lid of the box.

xXxXx

Anna's POV

Kristoff arrived just as I was washing the remains of my breakfast from the, rather large, glass bowl that had recently taken refuge in the sink.

At the sound of the front door slamming, I rolled my eyes before drying the bowl and placing it in the dishwasher.

His heavy footfalls thudded into the kitchen behind me and I addressed him without bothering to turn around, wiping my hands off on a towel.

"You know, there's this really cool thing that people do before barging into someone else's house. It's called _knocking._"

"Yeah, well…" He trailed off and I could practically feel the goofy grin on his face.

I finally turned to face him, hands mockingly on my hips. "This sort of behavior is very unbecoming of a gentleman." I paused thoughtfully before continuing. "But then again, I suppose you can be better related to a troll than a gentleman."

"Hey, trolls are cool!" Kristoff defended lamely.

My eyes rolled themselves of their own accord as I crossed he room to retrieve my phone from the counter, towel still in hand. "I swear you're just as bad as Sven sometimes."

Quickly balling the towel up in my hand, I launched it at his head. Kristoff caught it easily, raising an eyebrow with a shit eating grin plastered to his face. I stuck my tongue out at him.

He let out a sharp bark of laughter. "I think Sven is almost always better than me. Reindeer are better than people, you know."

I cocked my head to the side, unimpressed while responding, "You do realize that Sven is a dog, right? Not a reindeer."

"He's a reindeer in my heart!" Kristoff roared playfully, throwing the kitchen towel back at me.

Where Kristoff had decent reflexes, I lacked any form of grace whatsoever, and the cloth connected with my face head on as I flailed my hands in front of me in a stupidly desperate attempt to swat it out of the air.

Kristoff had practically fallen on the floor laughing, the chuckles flaming back up repeatedly every time he attempted to tame them.

I swiped the towel from the floor, grumbling slightly and placed it back on the counter by the sink. An exasperated sigh flew past my lips as I crossed my arms in front of my chest and mustered up a glare at the blond on the floor.

"Are you done laughing at me, or am I driving myself to the movies?" I asked Kristoff, pout present on my face.

"Sorry, sorry." He wheezed as he rose back to full height.

We made eye contact and a giggle sprung from his lips. Kristoff clasped a hand over his mouth, still looking a bit too gleeful for my liking.

"Don't start."I snap before wandering around him to the kitchen's door-less exit.

His hand dropped from his mouth, his face a controlled neutral, minus the tightly pursed lips.

"Let's go then." I turned back and called out to him, hand already in place on the knob of the front door. "That movie isn't going to watch itself."

I flung the door open and proceeded to let myself into Kristoff's truck, missing the way his eyes rolled sky-high behind my back as his goofy grin resettled upon his face.

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

I couldn't believe it, everything in my box was the way I had left it. The pieces of jewelry my Uncle had gifted me at a birthday party, a pair of dirty old teal gloves I had refused to throw away when I was younger, and a folded up photograph of myself and my parents the morning of my sixth birthday.

I reached in and pulled out the picture, gently tracing the crease and unfolding it. Smoothing a finger over the corner, I willed the lump rising in my throat to disappear.

The family staring back at me was full of strangers.

A woman with glittering blonde hair was kneeling behind a small child, her hands clasped around the young girl's chest in a make-do hug. The woman's attention was not on the camera that had taken the picture, but rather focused on the face of a man standing next to the pair of girls, a small smile revealing pearly teeth stretching her face. Who was this woman? I could barely recognize her.

The man also wore a smile, well, more of a merry grin anyway. He had a palm resting on the woman's shoulder, with the other grasped tightly in the little girl's hand. I was certain that this man had never existed.

My attention turned to the young girl, studying her features. Her platinum hair was wound into a braid, with several clumps straying messily over her eyes. She too had a grin plastered to her face, brighter than either of the parents. Icy eyes gleamed in the light of the camera, nothing but innocence and pure happiness radiating from every fiber of this girl.

I sighed internally.

This girl. This girl who looked as though the world itself could end and she'd be none the less happy as long as she'd have the two next to her along for the ride. This girl whose mother had once told her that she deserved all the good in the world. This precious girl.

This girl was not me.

This girl was a dream.

In one swift movement, I threw the picture back into the box and all but slammed the lid shut. I was unable to look at those people anymore. They did not exist anymore. None of them.

I rose from the bed and crossed the room, pulling the door open and stepping outside. I made to journey back to the front door but hesitated.

After a moment's consideration, I clenched my eyes and turned back in the direction of the bathroom.

Once inside, I yanked the mirror on the wall forward to reveal the medicine cabinet, not even bothering to turn on the light. I gingerly pushed several bottles and boxes to the sides, feeling around in the back.

My fingers brushed against cool metal and I pulled a gleaming razor blade from the depths of the cabinet before sliding it into my box. It thudded against the wooden bottom with a light clang.

I closed the cabinet and turned back before finally making my way to the front door, my box tucked securely under my arm.

Halfway across the living room, I noticed the front door was closed. I was almost positive I had left it open. I blinked and tentatively crossed through the rest of the living room, pausing in front of the door with my hand on the handle.

A bottle appeared suddenly beside my head and exploded against the wall.

Pieces of glass flew around me. I raised an arm and dug my face into the thick cloth at the inside of my elbow.

I hadn't even turned my back to the door when my father's voice rang out behind me.

"I knew you'd come back."


	10. Chapter 10

Uber important A/N

Hey, guys! So I've spent the last week or so going back through all of the previous chapters, editing them and improving them a crap ton. I think this story is so much better written than it was, and I'm a lot happier with it now, so maybe go back to the beginning and give it another read, yeah?

*Puppy dog eyes*

Please? It's so worth it, I swear.

As always, read and review!

(Reviews are my lifeline… They make me update faster…hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink.)

xXxXx

Anna's POV

I drug a grumbling Kristoff out of the movie theatre, receiving several glares from our fellow movie goers on the way out of the door.

I smiled sheepishly at them before I was finally able to push Kristoff out of the building.

"Can you seriously not go the entire length of _one_ movie before getting us kicked out?" I sighed.

Kristoff had managed to get shushed a record breaking seven times during the movie we were watching before someone got up and complained to one of the managers. We had been promptly told that we would need to exit the theatre or be escorted out by security. _I mean seriously though? Extreme much?_

"It's not my fault that movie was terrible!" Kristoff said loudly, following the exclamation with exaggerated hand gestures. "They completely butchered the acting, there was literally no plot, and that giant snow monster was completely uncalled for!"

I shushed him gently, "Kristoff, we didn't even get to see the last half an hour of the movie! Maybe it would have made more sense."

"Ugh, whatever. There's no way I'd ever watch that movie again, end or no end."

I rolled my eyes at him, "They're probably never going to let us in there again. Next time we hang out, how about we try doing something else? Something less… disruptive," I quipped.

Kristoff didn't reply in favor of picking at his fingernails and mumbling under his breath.

"Let's just go-"I broke off as Kristoff's phone vibrated.

He shot me an apologetic look before taking it out and checking his messages. He grimaced after a minute.

"Crap, I forgot that I told my mom I'd take my sister to the mall. I've uh, got to go."

I gave him a small smile, understanding, "It's cool, Kristoff. We can hang out some other time."

"Sorry," He paused. "Movies again?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled. "We'll see. Now take me home."

Kristoff saluted. "Ma'am, yes ma'am."

I giggled and rolled my eyes again as we walked toward the parking lot.

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

A shiver ran through my body that had nothing to do with the temperature as I turned around to face my father.

A nasty sneer spread across his lips. He was wearing a sweat stained muscle shirt, his beer belly extending past the waistband of his dirty pajama pants. I wasn't surprised though; pigs always looked the part didn't they?

He crossed the room from his place in the hallway leading to his bedroom and stumbled over to the couch, grabbing a half filled beer bottle from the table before plopping down.

Apparently my not-so-subtle apprehension filled gaze was seen easily as an unpleasant leer spread the features of his face.

"What?" I finally snapped at him, after several moments of silence, impatience and anger mounting. "You're not going to throw that bottle at me too?"

My father barked out a spout of sharp laughter. "Don't flatter yourself. This here bottle's worth ten of you."

I bit the inside of my cheek and willed the remark to pass through my mind with minimal impact.

"But then again, most things are worth more than you, aren't they?"

I decided not to respond verbally, in favor of leveling the expressions from my face in a much practiced manner. _Show no emotion. Don't give him the satisfaction. Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show._

"Say something why don't you? Isn't this exactly what you wanted when you came back? One last chance to 'put me in my place' as it were?" He drawled, grinning nastily and I dropped my gaze to the floor.

Upon my continued silence, cackle-like laughter broke free from my father's lips. "And see? Even now when you have the chance to speak without reprimanding, you continue to be a little bitch like that red haired dyke-"

My emotionless façade snapped in an instant.

"What did I ever do to you?" I demanded, anger warping through me as I, against my better judgment, took a step forward.

The sadistically delighted aura surrounding my father dropped immediately as he growled out, "You know _exactly_ what you did."

I did. But he was wrong.

"That car crash was not my fault and you know it."

"_Liar,_" He leaned forward from his spot on the couch and all but threw the half empty bottle onto the coffee table, upending it and causing the contents to slop onto the carpet.

I flinched ever so slightly at the movement. This was generally the part where I started second guessing myself, questioning my defense before succumbing to his lies and flooding myself with the ever looming guilt of my mother's death.

I clenched my eyes shut.

_No. Not this time._

"You're wrong," I started, snapping my eyes open and glaring steadily at my father, who raised his eyebrows. "It's not my fault. And it's not your fault either," I discreetly sucked in a shaky breath, head pounding with anxiety. "Sometimes things just happen that you have no control over. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it but deal with it. But this," I gestured towards him, the filthy room, and surrounding beer bottles, "This is not how you deal with it. You don't push it away and blame a third party because you think it'll bring you closure. Because it's not really closure.

"You never accepted mom's death, you never let it go. And it's only hurting you," I held a hand up as my father snapped his mouth open and spoke hurriedly over his feeble retort. "You can deny it. You can tell yourself that I'm wrong until you're blue in the face. But," I paused, shuffling the box in my arms and withdrawing the photo, holding it up for my father to see, "The man I see in this picture is not the man I see now. Not even close."

My voice cracked slightly and I stopped to clear my throat. I placed a finger in front of the figure of my mother in the picture so that only the younger versions of my father and I were visible.

"This," I said, pointing at the smiling duo in the photo, "Should _never_ have become this." A tear drop spilled over my eye as I gestured between the man on the couch and myself. "Even without her here."

I place the picture back in my box before returning my now tear-free gaze back to my father.

He sat motionless on the couch, staring dumbfounded at me. It might have been the lingering triumph reining over me, but I could have sworn that a tear or two had tracked down his cheeks.

The silence swirled around us, neither of us moving or speaking until my father finally dropped his gaze to the filth stained floor, shielding his expression.

"You're right," He murmured.

I lifted my chin the slightest bit higher, knowing that was the closest thing to an apology that I was ever going to get.

Turning and yanking the door open, I stepped through and continued on through the apartment complex, not looking back.

I didn't miss the quiet sob that broke through the gap in the door as gravity pulled it shut behind me.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N

I hope that the fluff in this chapter makes up for the shortness of the last one. Also, I've decided to hold the next chapter for ransom; no update until I get, say… five more reviews. Minimum. *gasp* I'm so mean, I know.

Annas POV

I clomped lazily up the front steps of my house as Kristoff's truck crept back out of the driveway. Said burley blonde could be heard yelling an obnoxiously loud, "See you later, Anna!", before his truck took off roaring down the street.

Trudging through the front door, I was greeted by nothing but the sounds of my own, slightly labored, breathing. _Why are stairs a thing? Why is walking a thing? Ugh, you see, this is what happens when stupid birds wake me up early on a Saturday!_

I pushed myself further into the house, grumbling under my breath about this, that and the other. Coming to a stop in the kitchen, I glanced up at the clock, noting that Kristoff and I had been out for almost two hours. _Would've longer if he hadn't gotten us kicked out of the theatre…again._

Huffing in mild annoyance at the thought, I realized that it was almost half past noon; _Elsa should be back!_ A grin slowly lifted the corners of my lips, my mild annoyance at Kristoff's antics disappearing completely as I withheld the sudden urge to squeal.

I turned and quickly made for the staircase, forcing myself into a somewhat normal gait as I rounded the corner sharply. All previous complaints about the unnatural breath-reducing abilities of stairs were gone from my mind as I raced up them, en route to my girlfriend's room.

Pausing in front of her door and ignoring my own breathlessness, I raised a hand to knock on the solid wood, still wanting to respect her privacy despite my wishes to see her. There was no response, but I could detect the softest of sounds floating from under the crack of the door.

I knocked again and called out hopefully, "Elsa?"

My call was once again met with no response, but the faint melodic noise continued to drift from inside the room.

Slowly, I twisted the door handle, pushing the door inward and poking my head into the room and palming the inner edge of the door. "Elsa?"

Said blonde was perched on an old chair, back to me, singing softly under her breath as she scribbled something into a notebook.

I stepped slowly into the room before closing the door behind me, never taking my eyes away from the siren that was unconsciously captivating every inch of me in all the right ways. As I drew closer, I could make out the thin white wires trailing from her ears, indicating that she was lost in the realm of music.

Crossing the room to the desk she was situated at, I gently rested a hand on her shoulder. The reaction was not at all what I had expected.

Elsa jumped a good few inches out of her chair, spinning to face me whilst simultaneously slamming her sketchbook closed and tearing the headphones from her ears.

Her face relaxed almost instantly as she identified me, soon bringing a hand up to her face to sweep her disheveled bangs out of her face. "Anna," She breathed through a small smile, "You startled me."

A small wave of guilt surged through me and I suddenly regretted disturbing her in such an abrupt fashion. "I'm sorry. I-"

She reached a hand out, clasping my own within it. "It's alright, you don't need to explain anything."

Elsa moved to grasp her phone, which was situated next to her on the desk, and turned the music off.

When she turned back to me, I motioned to the phone, newly revealed information swirling through my mind. "You never told me you could sing."

I watched as she ducked her gaze to the floor, a red hue beginning to tint her cheeks, revealing the light dashing of freckles coating her pale skin as she sunk further down into the chair.

"I've never told anyone actually," Elsa started somewhat meekly, as if expecting to be reprimanded. "I just do it for fun sometimes." A lame shrug of the shoulders, "It's not a big deal."

"But, you're really good at it." I paused, pondering whether to continue the current conversation or ask another question. I made my mind up quickly, asking, "Would you… would you sing for me sometime?"

She regarded me hesitantly for a moment, a somewhat bewildered expression crossing her face as if she were searching for some ulterior motive behind the elementary request.

At her continued silence, I tried to backtrack. "I mean, you totally don't have to. Not if you don't want to, I mean. It's just that, wow, you're really good, and I didn't know you could sing so well, and now that I know I'd just really… like to hear it again…" I trailed off as Elsa began to giggle at my free flying word vomit.

"Sure… I'll sing for you sometime," Elsa trailed off shyly.

I beamed at her and she returned the gesture, albeit, in a much more controlled manner. _You know, 'cuz at the moment I feel like my face is going to split in two. Hello creepy clown grin. Mm whatcha say?_

After forcing my cheeks into a more comfortable, yet still quite sizeable, smile, I cleared my throat and addressed the other topic floated around in the confines of my brain.

"What were you drawing?" I waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the desk without taking my eyes away from the blonde before me.

"Ah," Elsa rubbed a hand along the back of her neck, "I hadn't meant for you to see that yet."

"Oh, okay," Was my simple response. I couldn't help but feel both slightly excited and slightly disappointed at the statement.

"I'll show you when it's done?"

My grin increased in size once more and a simple, "Great," slipped past my lips. And just like that, the disappointment vanished.

xXxXx

Elsa's POV

I couldn't resist the urge to smile back at Anna when her face lit up once more… not that I would ever want to hold much back when it came to the redhead. I'd smiled more when in the company of that girl than I had in the last decade. It was as if some unseen force of nature was hidden behind her cheeks and the sun itself was released when she flashed a grin.

Even as she turned her back to me, gazing innocently out the window, I could still see the brilliant flash of her teeth as the sun radiated from her very being, and suddenly, like a punch to the gut, I realized the very magnitude at which I had come to care for this girl.

I shook my head at myself, crossing the room from the desk to the foot of the bed and sitting lightly upon it, my own lips still upturned at the thought of the girl in front of me.

"Sooo…" Said redhead drawled, snapping me from my daze as she plopped next to me on the bed. "Where did you go earlier today? You weren't here when I woke up."

_Well shit. There goes the happy moment._

"I… uh..." I held a breath and twisted my fingers together in my lap, my stomach following the lines of a very similar movement as I contemplated my response carefully; I had absolutely no clue what Anna would think of me going back to my father's apartment.

"_Oh, not much really, Anna. You remember my father? The one that's been abusing me for last ten years and the one that tried to punch you in the face? Oh, yeah, I just went back to say hi. Isn't that great?" Yeah, no fucking thank you._

Anna's brows scrunched together in confusion at my lack of response, and her smile dropped by a fraction, plainly losing its sincerity.

Of course_ I _would be the thing that erased that smile.

As she opened her mouth to speak, smile dropping completely, I cut her off by practically blurting out an answer over her. "I went back to my father's apartment."

I pursed my lips and lowered my eyes to the floor when her own eyes widened a considerable amount and she inhaled a sharp breath. I bit my lip, burning the carpet into my eyelids, and made no move to speak again.

"H-how did that go?"

Slowly frowning at the floor, I searched myself for an answer. It had gone better than I had expected, but the end result was absolutely nothing close to what I had anticipated. Though I supposed that 'one-upping' my father, _his words not mine, mind you,_ did supposedly count towards an overall positive visit.

Anna's voice rang out almost frantically beside me, and I realized that I had taken far too long to answer. "You're okay, right? Nothing bad happened?"

The utter concern laced behind the words hit me like a train and rendered me momentarily unable to respond in, what most people would consider, a normal fashion.

"Wha-? N-no, no. I-I mean, yes, I'm fine. I just, uh, I grabbed a few of my things and left." I pointed around her to the wooden box that lay on the desk several feet away while opting not to address the somewhat hostile confrontation I had been greeted by my lovely father with.

Anna's eyes followed the trail of my finger and she released a breath, eyes then flicking back to meet my own as her fingers clenched and unclenched repeatedly around her hem of her shirt. "I'm glad everything went okay…but I…I really wish you would've told me." She paused and I swore that I could physically feel the tears that sprung into her eyes before she dropped my gaze. "I mean, what if he had done something to you? What if…? I wouldn't have… I don't…"

Reaching over, I took one of her hands in both of mine, running my thumb lightly over the smooth skin. Anna twisted in her spot almost immediately, throwing an arm around my abdomen and burying her face into my collar.

Repeating the movement and tightening my grip around her torso, I willed myself to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. I remembered the last time we held each other in almost the exact way, rolls reversed. It was the day I had shown her my bruises, my cuts, my scars. It was the first time that I had shown true vulnerability around her, physically, mentally, and emotionally, as I let my walls be breeched for the first time in a decade.

I lowered my nose to the back of her head, finding purchase in breathing in Anna's oh-so-familiar scent. There were only several tears shed, on my part at least, but the absence of shaking shoulders on Anna's part bode well for her too. And so we sat, still clenching and clutching at each other's bodies as if they would float away, the two of us both finding comfort in the embrace.

My fingers absentmindedly brushed through the disheveled locks around me, my eyes drawn to the single strip of white that flowed almost unnoticed amongst the sea of auburn.

I thought about the in-progress drawing in my sketchbook and Anna's earlier request.

_If a picture can paint a thousand words, what can a song do?_

I cleared my throat silently, words already forming in my throat, melody already flowing through my ears.

"_I never thought that you _

_would be the one to hold my heart._

_But you came around and you knocked me_

_off the ground from the start._

_You put your arms around me,_

_And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go._

_You put your arms around me and I'm home."_

I took a slow breath in, a smile unconsciously tugging at the corners of my mouth as the words flowed forth.

"_How many times will you let me change my mind _

_and turn around?_

_I can't decide if I'll let you save my life _

_or if I'll drown._

"_I hope that you see right through my walls._

_I hope that you catch me 'cause I'm already_

_falling._

_I'll never let our love get so close._

_You put your arms around me and I'm_

_home."_

And suddenly, nothing else mattered. No problem seemed big enough, no task important enough, there was no coherent thought work thinking. At that moment, in my mind, nothing else existed. Nothing but me, Anna, and the words flowing melodically from my lips.

"_The world is coming down on me and I_

_can't find a reason to be loved._

_I never want to leave you but I can't make_

_you bleed if I'm alone._

_You put your arms around me,_

_And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go…_

_I hope that you see right through my walls._

_I hope that you catch me 'cause I'm_

_already falling._

_I'll never let our love get so close._

_You put your arms around me and I'm_

_home."_

I pause as the music between lines sweeps through my head and my eyes flutter shut, inaudible guitar chords and drum beats blurring any other singular thought.

"_I try my best to never let you in to see the truth._

_And I've never opened up,_

_I've never truly loved 'till you put your arms around me,_

_And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go."_

Again, a line break. Music swirling, soothing, flowing unhindered in what was the clearest mindset I could ever remember residing in.

"_I hope that you see right through my walls._

_I hope that you catch me 'cause I'm _

_already falling._

_I'll never let our love get so close._

_You put your arms around me and I'm_

_home._

_You put your arms around me and I'm _

_home."_

My eyes were still closed as the last word rung through the still air, surrounding the room.

I heard more than felt Anna shift as she settled into my lap, rising to, I assumed, make eye contact with me. I obliged her, pulling myself away from the tune still bounding through my head, and as the icy blue of my own eyes met the teal of Anna's, more feelings were conveyed, more unspoken thoughts were understood than that of what hundreds of hours of conversation could have revealed.

The warmth of Anna's smooth palm greeted the flesh of my face as her thumb ran slowly along the line of my cheekbone. The feeling of Anna's lips against my own had become the most natural thing in the world, and as they moved passionately across my own I wondered how I had ever lived without them.

Unlike a fair amount of our previous lip-locks, this one was a constant, steady paced entity of true meaning and purpose.

When she eventually pulled back to rest her forehead on mine, we both wore smiles that would put the sun to shame, such smiles that were reserved solely for each other as we breathed as one.

Anna let loose a giggle as I twisted, flopping against the bed and pulling her down with me. Laying side by side, looking into her eyes I couldn't help but press another kiss to her lips.

After another few moments I turned, grasping the top of the blanket where it lay at the head of the bed before pulling it down to awkwardly envelope the two of us where we lay sprawled horizontally atop the bed's plush surface. I twisted my arm around Anna's waist, pulling her almost flush against me while simultaneously tucking the blanket around the two of us. The very tips of our noses brushed together in the small space, and never in my life had I ever felt so content.

Anna's arms snaked around my back, holding me close before she giggled again, seemingly without reason.

With prompting from my single raised eyebrow she explained, "We're like a burrito," Before erupting once again into a fit of chuckles, me right along with her.

The laughing died down eventually to be replaced by a welcome silence, Anna and I simply resting together and basking in the quiet, content moment. No singular thought twisted through my mind, only a single emotion making itself known throughout my body for the first time in forever: happiness.

With the warmth of the comfortable embrace in Anna's arms, along with the lulling of her steady breaths, and even against the earliness of the hour, my eyes closed, darkness and a smell that could only be described as 'Anna' clouding me as I drifted off to sleep.

A/N

The song Elsa sings is 'Arms' by Christina Perri. I highly suggest listening to it.


End file.
